Blood, Snow and Claws
by Tessebear
Summary: Hebe and Torah, Snow Leopards who's pack have been slaughtered by a rival Tiger pack OrangeMist find Refuge with Dark River. Hebe the healer and Torah the fighter have always been a lethal pair and with the help of DarkRiver and SnowDancer seek to avenge their pack. Hebe hopes Torah mates and finds love to heal her wounds but Torah has no desire to give up her fierce independence.
1. DarkRiver

Hebe was asleep on Torah's lap as she stroked her hair with sisterly affection. Hebe could sleep under any circumstances and in any location, a trait Torah was envious of at times such as these. Both blindfolded, they sat in the back of a leopard vehicle being driven to the pack's lair. The journey had been long and bumpy, she would have felt carsick but she hadn't eaten a proper meal in over 3 days. The IceChaser pack had been decimated by a rival pack; OrangeMist with only Hebe and Torah surviving through sheer luck. The Tiger pack had infiltrated IceChaser territory, purposefully alarming the soldiers and drawing them out of the Lair, unknown to IceChaser, the tigers had been using their clumsy infiltration as a ploy to distract the soldiers, leaving the cubs and weaker members unprotected. Hebe and Torah had been on the other side of IceChaser territory on a run unaware of what was happening. Being the pack's most lethal weapons their missing was no doubt one of the reasons IceChaser fell as quickly as it had, something neither of the girls would ever forgive themselves for. IceChaser were a Snow Leopard pack that isolated themselves to the Northern Canada for self-explanatory reasons. The OrangeMist had ruled most of Southern Canada alongside a Bear pack known as BlackWood and had always shown an interest in conquering the rest of the land mass. IceChasers being weaker than BlackWood simply due to their smaller numbers; Snow leopards were as rare in changelings as they were as animals; thus they fell victims of OrangeMist's greed.

When Torah and Hebe had caught scent of OrangeMist they raced back to the lair, to find most of their pack decimated. With the few soldiers left standing they killed what tigers they could, both girls too raged to remember how many tigers they slaughtered but it was assumed around the low 30s. They ran into the forest admitting that no matter how many they killed more would come and they had no hope in restoring IceChaser. They were tracked, but Hebe being expert in evading and remaining invisible and near impossible to track they escaped Canada, remaining in animal form the entire way. The attack had by now been heard of by most changeling packs and eventually they were discovered by a peaceful Deer pack in Oregon whom contacted DarkRiver.

"How much further?" Torah called to the driver, kept in darkness the journey had seemed days.  
She could sense the leopard look to his comrade riding shotgun as if wondering whether that piece of information would divulge too much about the location of their lair. Of course it would not.  
"About an hour, maybe less if we're lucky"  
"I'm starving"  
"You'll be fed once we're there"  
"I should hope so"  
"How's your sister"  
"She's not my sister" Torah's sister had been slaughtered trying to protect her cubs, but indeed Hebe was a sister to her in everything except blood. "She's fine" Hebe's long caramel hair still laced between Torah's fingers she woke her up so she could prepare to enter DarkRiver territory.

To the leopard's due they helped Hebe and Torah out of the car, acts of chivalry never went unnoticed by Snow Leopard women. Their blindfolds were removed and they blinked and shielded their eyes to the light they'd been denied for entirety of their journey from Oregon to California, at least that's where the leopard's number plates said they were. Quickly adjusting to the light, before them appeared to be the infamous Lucas Hunter. He was as gorgeous as they'd been told; black mane, glowing green eyes and scars across his face that did not ruin his looks, only enhanced them. The two male leopards who'd accompanied them on their journey were also attractive, one blonde with golden eyes who'd they'd come to know as Dorian and the other had deep auburn hair that complimented his emerald eyes, Gabe.  
"Hebe, Torah." Lucas nodded to us. "Firstly, I want to give you my condolences" He seemed sincere. A woman with deep ebony hair walked forward and held his waist. Hebe and Torah instantly recognised the eyes of a Cardinal Psy. Hebe entered a defensive stance and Torah once of aggression. Hebe always the healer, defence and shadow, Torah the attack, hunter and killer, together they were deadly, their deadliness was amplified by the mysterious psychic link between them.  
"Calm down, ladies" a mild threat from the leopards' alpha. "This is my mate, Sascha Duncan, an E-Psy"  
"E?" Torah cocked her head, but not relaxing.  
"Empath" Hebe answered, who was no longer in her defensive position, always the most relaxed of the pair.  
"Yes" Sascha replied "I defected from the Psy net after I discovered my designation, obviously due to Silence I could never flourish"  
"Impossible" Torah accused "Psy die if they leave the Psy net." Everyone looked surprised, particularly the Psy.  
"How do you know that?"  
"Last time we were this close to a Psy it didn't end well for them" Torah didn't mean for it to come across as a threat but even though she'd begun to relax her eyes had gone cat and new she appeared a very real threat.  
"Calm down" Hebe hissed. It was then Torah felt a wave of tranquillity roll over her, she purred involuntarily. Realising however, it was the Psy, she attempted to fight it, the calm pulled away, and Torah looked at Sascha accusingly.  
"Stay out of my head"  
"I apologise, it happens involuntarily." She said truthfully. Torah nodded, she knew what it was like having lack of control and being accused for it.  
"I suppose you girls are starving" Lucas chimed "Tamsyn our healer has cooked up a meal for you." At that their mouths watered and Torah became much more compliant.

Tamsyn, made a huge fuss of the girls, comforting them with touch and food, both which were greatly appreciated. Clearly after Torah's apparent aggression the other leopards had been hesitant to touch her and Hebe, but after their positive response to Tamsyn that hesitance was discarded and all through dinner they were stroked and petted. With only each other to provide touch for over a month the overload of sensation was welcomed.  
"How old are you two girls anyway?" Tamsyn asked after putting desert in front of them.  
"17 and 18" Lucas answered "I don't know which way round though" He chuckled apologetically.  
"Hebe is the older" Torah said stiffly, she may have appreciated the touch and food but she was not ready to smile, her wounds too deep for any outlet of happiness or pleasure. Hebe on the other hand although as equally pained was better at forcing it, probably out of embarrassment, the girls were not used to being taken care of or being pitied, neither really knew how to handle it.  
"I would have said it was you" Tamsyn said placing her hand on Torah's.  
"I always forget I'm the oldest, I think it's because she's taller than me" Hebe said matter of factly but it had all the leopards at the table in fits of laughter, which brought a fabulous smile on her face, which warmed Torah to see.  
"We've got rooms for both of you in the main Den; hopefully you'll both be comfortable there." Lucas said already finishing his desert.  
"Hopefully" Torah said unable to eat any more. She couldn't help but turn her mind to her pack, or at least what was her pack, she wanted revenge, changeling code; an eye for an eye. Clearly the leopards had expected the following reaction from the Snows.  
"We will discuss matters to do with both of your situations tomorrow, when you're rested." Lucas said soothingly. Hebe nodded but Torah spoke up.  
"I hope DarkRiver don't hope we sweep what has happened to our pack and what retribution we deserve under the carpet" She held stern eye contact with the alpha.  
"That Torah is not in DarkRiver's nature." Lucas said understanding Torah's need for assurance and clear need for vengeance, after once being in a similar position himself. Tamsyn was thanked and the girls were guided towards their rooms. They were not used to being in separate rooms, IceChasers' only had a small den and sharing with family or friends was common, large empty rooms were intimidating, it was not long until Torah snuck into Hebe's room to sleep beside her. Hebe was her last link to IceChaser, her last surviving friend, the only reason she was still sane, and not feral. Torah swore to herself that night, she would protect Hebe more fiercely than ever from anything or anyone, Hebe was strong but she was innately a healer, but Torah was a killer and for Hebe kill she would.

Hebe whilst asleep sensed Torah's presence and welcomed her. She woke to find Torah curled next to her; she petted her dark chocolate hair, hair that trailed just past her chest, unlike her own hair that was at her waist. Hebe was worried for Torah, she felt her anger and her pain, she shared it, but Torah did not handle such things well, she had a habit of being self-destructive, overly confrontational and ridiculously and unnecessarily protective. Torah didn't like talking though, not about things that mattered, hell no one could shut Torah up usually, but when it came to things Torah cared about, actions to her were far louder than words. Hebe knew she had to help Torah before she hurt herself, knew she had to protect her from herself, they were alone now, no parents to run to, no siblings to confide in, no alpha to look up to, all they had was each other and Hebe would not lose Torah to herself, not matter what the cost.


	2. Snowdrop

"So what's the verdict on the girls?" Lucas asked lazily to the group of sentinels sprawled in Tamsyn's Kitchen. "Pretty little things aren't they?" He said teasing his mate, playing with her plait.  
"Play nice" She scowled.  
"Don't worry Kitten, they're just little girls, the beast needs a woman" He nipped at her neck.  
The males with mates in the room nodded in agreement.  
"They seem like normal Juves to me" Vaughn said not taking his eyes off of the beautiful red-head sprawled across his lap "You seen anything baby?"  
"I'm afraid not, though I've made a conscious effort to induce one in regards to the girls."  
"Tell us when you get something. How about you Sascha? Sensed anything interesting?" Lucas nodded towards his mate.  
"Lucas, you know I don't pry."  
"Please baby, just this once."  
"Well" she sighed. "It's fair to say they're both incredibly distraught, however, Hebe seems to have a far more productive coping system than Torah."  
"Hebe seems to be a natural healer" Tamsyn stated with a hint of excitement "I hope she wishes to learn more about her talent, it would be nice to have a helping hand."  
"Well with two new 'exotic' girls in the den, the boys are bound to get a little, restless."  
"Indeed." Tamsyn rolled her eyes.  
"I would watch Torah." Sascha said quietly.  
"Why's that baby?" Lucas said stroking her arm with the tips of his fingers.  
"Whereas Hebe is distraught in a broken depressed sense, Torah, well there's so much rage inside of her, a raw need for revenge, she might act out that's all."  
"We've dealt with worse" Lucas said eyeing Clay with an air of amusement. Clay just nodded in response.  
"I say we just treat them like all the Juves: strict. They step out of line we come down hard. I do not want female versions of Cory and Kit running around, they're bad enough but put PMS into the equation and it'll be hell on earth" Dorian pointed out, Mercy growled in response to the PMS dig.  
"Could you imagine if Cory and Kit mated with them?" Faith taunted the group, they all groaned in response; it would definitely not be a desirable situation.  
"When are you due to talk with them?" Nate asked.  
"Once they've had breakfast." Replied Lucas.  
"What do you mean?" Dorian said with a confused expression as he glanced at his watch "It's 1:30 pm"  
"Yeah well they deserve a break, I've told one of the soldiers to alert me when they wake, apparently they haven't quite taken to their separate rooms either." He said raising an eyebrow.  
"From what I heard the SnowChasers were poor and didn't have a large den." Nate said crossing his arms.  
"I suppose they're not used to sleeping alone, must be intimidating." Tamsyn added gazing out the window.  
"Yeah well let's hope they stick to each other's beds." Lucas said with a serious tone. He did not want extra strain on the juves, they were starting to calm down, Kit was growing up a bit and he did not want two girls turning it to shot.  
"Second that" Vaughn chimed as the sentinels began to dispatch and Lucas and Sascha decided to head back towards the den.

Torah stretched with feline grace as she woke and looked across to the alarm clock.  
"Shit" She cussed. "Hebe get up." she said nudging her lazily. She just groaned in response. "Jesus you should be a door mouse not a cat, now get up" She kicked her and realised she'd done so a bit too hard propelling Hebe out of the bed and onto the floor.  
"For fucks sake" Hebe rubbed her head "What the fuck was that for?" Torah sat up running her hands through her bed hair "Shit sorry Hebes, here I'll help you up" She got out of bed still hugging on to the duvet.  
"It's fine I got it" she stood up, holding on to the bedside table for support.  
"You okay?"  
"Fine" She said grumpily. Hebe was now in one of her moods. Hebe was definitely not a morning person, if you can count 1:45 as the morning.  
"Agh don't be moody with me"  
"Shut up" She called from the kitchen "I'm gonna go have a shower."  
"Fine meet me in half an hour in my room."  
"Fuck off, meet here" she called.  
"What no, it's always me who has to go to your room, you never come to mine!"  
"And what does that say?" She couldn't see Hebe but she knew she had raised an eyebrow.  
"Shut up, you're equally dependant, just lazy" she said snidely.  
"Yeah sure" Hebe replied.  
"You know sarcasm isn't very attractive, Tait was right." Torah had meant it to be a light hearted comment but bit her lip and wished she'd never opened her mouth. She heard the shower door that Hebe had opened close again and heard her footsteps plod in her direction.  
"Well Tait's not here anymore is he? And George isn't either. So don't bring them up" Torah's gut turned when she heard George's name. Tait and George had been their closest friends, they'd been known as 'the four' spent all of their time together, except for that run of course, the run that kept Hebe and Torah safe. They never saw either of the boys' bodies but they knew they'd died, died the horrible way the rest of their pack had. Tears pricked at Torah's eyes.  
"I'm sorry" Torah sobbed as she fell to her knees. Hebe was about to say she'd forgiven her but realised Torah wasn't apologizing to her, she was apologizing to George, who she couldn't save. It'd always been Torah and George, Hebe and Tait, their relationships had never gone further than close friendship but all four secretly wondered whether they eventually would pair up; mate. Obviously now they never would.  
"Stand up" Hebe ordered pulling Torah off her knees.  
"Go have a shower, eat something." She wiped the tears off of Torah's cheek. "We will not let them see us like this; I will not have them see you like this. We have to be strong, earn their respect."  
Torah understood, if the Leopards did not think Hebe and Torah strong or fit enough, they wouldn't let them avenge their pack, wouldn't put them in that firing line.  
"We can't hide from the E-Psy" Torah said begrudgingly  
"No, we can't." Hebe admitted "But we can do our darn well best and hope she isn't one to pry."  
Torah shrugged. "See you in your room in half an hour?" Hebe offered. Torah simply smiled at the gesture.

Hebe was approached by a boy with dark blue eyes and auburn hair as she left her room. He flashed her a magnificent smile, a smile which would have melted her instantly if it hadn't reminded her of Tait. Tait would smile like that when she was mad at him for taking a joke too far, or if he'd upset her and it always worked even when she so desperately wanted to stay angry at him.  
"Which one are you snowdrop?" He asked and she blushed at the pet name.  
"Hebe" she said coyly.  
"Nice to meet you Hebe, I'm Kit." He went to shake her hand but before she could respond Torah walked out the door. "You must be Torah?"  
"Yeah, nice to meet you Kit, heard you through the door." She explained. He nodded understanding.  
"Well I've been told to take you to Lucas for your little 'meeting'" He flashed his teeth again.  
"Well we better get going then" Torah ordered "Sound good, Snowdrop" She said with a sly grin. Hebe blushed but Kit came to her defence and said as he walked ahead of them  
"Don't be jealous you've got a special name too Snowflake" Torah glared at his back and whispered just loud enough for Kit to hear.  
"If they're all like this we'll be virgins forever." She saw his ears prick up at the statement. Hebe just glared at her and said low enough so he really couldn't hear this time.  
"Why the fuck did you say that? Now they'll all know! And he's cute."  
"Oh calm down, they'll love it." She said with a small smile as she attempted to catch Kit up. It was true that both girls had never slept with anyone. There was no particular reason why, all changeling girls were sexual, Hebe and Torah were no exception. However, the males in their pack always kept their distance and that no doubt had to do with Tait and George.

"So Kit, how long have you been Lucas's messenger boy?" Torah asked.  
"Only if the message is for a pretty girl"  
"Well I guess you hit the Jack Pot" A familiar voice said from behind. It was Dorian "You got two" He winked at the girls, Torah fought a blush. "I can take it from here Kit" Kit began to argue with Dorian but realised it would have been a futile attempt.  
"Lucky you" Hebe whispered loud enough for Dorian and Kit to hear "You've got a thing for tall blondes." A blush rose to Torah's face as she mouthed 'bitch' before Dorian turned to dazzle her.  
"Ladies, follow me." He said with amusement.  
_"I could kill you."_ Torah said using the curious psychic link Hebe and she had somehow formed as children, they rarely ever used it, let alone told anyone about it, it was used as a secret weapon in combat, the only two people they'd ever trusted with the information had been Tait and George.  
_"You deserved it."  
"You're right though"  
"About?"  
"Wouldn't mind finding him naked in the woods."  
"Try your bedroom"  
"Mmm I do hate sleeping alone"_ Dorian turned around with a confused expression on his face as the girls burst into fits of laughter. It had been the first time they'd laughed in ages.  
"I miss your cackle" Hebe prodded Torah.  
"Hey, I can't help it." She had one of the dirtiest laughs you'd ever heard; you could point her out in a crowded room just by her laugh. She didn't hate it though; Hebe sometimes thought she was proud of it.

"Here we are" Dorian held the door open for the girls and winked at Torah as she squeezed past.  
"Stop it you" She playfully tapped his shoulder, he burst out laughing.  
"Everyone seems to be in good moods." Lucas said with his feet upon the conference desk with his mate by his side. The room was void of the sentinels but Tamsyn was present and Dorian appeared to be staying.  
"Sorry for the formal setting girls, but we really have work to get through."  
Hebe smiled and took a seat followed by Torah, as expected Dorian flanked his Alpha.  
"How did you find Kit?" Sascha asked with a wink.  
"Charming" Hebe smiled as Torah rolled her eyes.  
"Anyway" Lucas cleared his throat and swung his legs off the table. "Down to business".

**P.S Quick note to those who are fans of the series but are ahead of me (as explained I'm only on book 4) I am aware Dorian and Kit mate in the future so do not fret Hebe and Torah will do nothing to compromise that ;D**

Tess


	3. The Forgotten

The meeting had proven to be very productive. Administrative aspects had been covered and the girls were now official members of DarkRiver. They'd been separated so one could take an IQ test whilst the other completed a physical check up with Tamsyn, and then they swapped. There were also more casual discussions such as what the girls were interested in, Tamsyn used this to her advantage and was delighted when Hebe was more than happy to train as a Healer and offer a helping hand. Lucas had also told the girls they would be assessed by one of the pack's trainers in regards to their physical fitness and combat skills.  
"What were your positions in your pack?" Lucas asked leaning forward. Torah looked towards Hebe.  
_"Trust them Torah" _Hebe sent.The hairs on Lucas's neck stood up, he had always been able to sense when a psychic was using their talents. He sat up straight that instance adopting a wary look, he glanced at his mate and she nodded sensing it aswell.  
"Soldiers" Torah said with a smile.  
"Rank?" Dorian asked. It was a difficult question to answer because they were young and the pack wanted to keep their strength a secret to surprise an enemy; they were low ranks but neither of the girls wanted DarkRiver to think them as weak.  
_"What do we say?" _ Torah asked Hebe. Hebe had no time to answer before a low growl emanated from the alpha's chest. Torah's eye widened with shock.  
"I caught it that time" Sascha said looking at her mate.  
"Is there something you're not telling us girls" Lucas asked a growl still cloaking his words.  
_"They're not talking about what I think they are, are they?"_ Torah panicked making the mistake of looking at Hebe as she sent it. She felt Hebe mentally kick her, a silent 'stop it'.  
"We're mid ranked soldiers, captains" Hebe answered, Lucas dismissed it.  
"I've a talent" Lucas started "I sense when Psy's use their abilities." He leaned in "My hair stands up on its ends"  
"That's interesting" Torah said with slight sarcasm, this aggravated him slightly.  
"Well darling, my hairs have been standing on their ends" Hebe used this as a brilliant opportunity to highlight the fact he was sat next to a cardinal. Sascha merely smiled and said  
"Don't look at me" as she raised her hands. "But you two however" She paused looking at them carefully "are emitting psychic waves"  
"We're changeling, not Psy" Torah laughed as if the possibility of such a thing was ridiculous.  
"Before silence, races intermixed and Psy DNA is within most of the world's population, some more than others giving them Psy abilities" Sascha said as if this piece of information was common knowledge and much bigger than she was letting on.  
"That's how I know you two are having a little 'conversation'" Lucas rubbed his neck.  
"It's a possibility that they're unaware of what they're doing, isn't it?" Dorian asked.  
"We're aware" Hebe interjected, Torah looked at her as if she'd been betrayed.  
"Torah we couldn't hide it forever" Hebe said sharply.  
"I'm glad we've cleared that up" Sascha said with a sigh. "You two have been wreaking havoc on the web" The girls looked at her with genuine bafflement. Sascha explained the Web of Stars to the girls, how she and other Psy have dropped out of the net to form alternative nets or webs.  
"This brings me back to you two." She sighed. "Clearly you two have Psy abilities, no doubt abilities that are hereditary and being so close they no doubt flourished as best friends or sisters often have a degree of 'knowing'"  
"Like knowing what each other is thinking without saying anything" Torah interjected  
"Yes exactly, that sort of knowing is common in most species especially females, because of your genetics and this it clearly had a multiply effect and you two are 'pathing "  
"We've only ever talked to each other that way" Hebe said running her fingers through her hair.  
"Try and talk to me…that way" A look of amusement crept upon Sascha's face at the way Hebe had described something so natural to the Psy.  
"Torah, you're better at it" It was true Torah could send Hebe thoughts over longer distances, it would be a one way conversation Hebe's thoughts becoming muffled over the distance.  
"Umm okay" Torah said slightly worried. She shut her eyes, it came so natural with Hebe there was a straight link, a direct tunnel to Hebe's mind, a mind she knew so well. She had to bring herself away from that tunnel; she couldn't see the tunnel because she was always inside it, she tried to bring herself out. She was conscious that she'd crumpled up her face in concentration.  
"I'm trying to get outside the link" She said through gritted teeth.  
"Here let me help" Sascha replied and sent out her psychic scent as it were, something to help Torah build a bridge between their minds. Torah felt Sascha's presence brush along her mind and she grabbed onto it and tried to follow it, almost enter it.  
"We're not entering darling, not yet" Sascha giggled.  
Torah blushed. She felt Sascha brush past her mind again and instead of trying to follow it she grabbed on to it.  
_"Sorry" _ Torah sent out and Sascha made a sound of delight. "I did it?!" Torah said eyes wide full of excitement.  
"You sure did, clear as crystal" Sascha clapped her hands _"Well-done!" _She sent back.  
"Hebe you try!" Torah grabbed her arms.  
It took Hebe a while longer but eventually she managed to link to Sascha.  
"What does this mean?" Tamsyn interjected.  
"That we have two functional telepaths added to the pack" Sascha grinned.  
"What about the web?" Dorian asked.  
"Yes, back to that" Sascha nodded. "I think subconsciously you two were trying to link up to the web, but with no clear access route you were merely banging on the door."  
"How do we access?" Torah asked.  
"Well you can mate with a sentinel" Sascha smiled "Or I can try and link you two in."  
"Sascha that's something we'll have to discuss." Lucas said with a serious tone, she sighed in response.  
"But what if they're suffering starvation like Tally?" Dorian added  
"Well they haven't had any of Talin's symptoms" Tamsyn responded.  
"If they begin to develop symptoms there will be no debate to whether they enter the web or not" Sascha said sternly. "Either way, if you girl's will accept my assistance I would like to work on your abilities with you, Hebe you may have M-Psy abilities that are untapped."  
"I could?"  
"It's a possibility"  
"Well this has been more than productive" Lucas stretched "but we've been caged in this room for near enough 3 hours and I'm starving" Torah noted they hadn't yet spoken about OrangeMist but decided that it wasn't the time to push the matter, she was also starving.  
"Canteen?" Dorian asked both of the girls.  
"Please."  
"This way, I'll introduce you to some of the other Juveniles, you've already met Kit, he's a good starting place I suppose."  
"I scent Alpha on him" Torah said.  
"Good nose" Dorian said impressed, Torah merely shrugged.  
"How did we do on the IQ tests?"  
"Torah, I can't divulge that information." He laughed  
"Why on earth not? It's our intelligence, even if the test is completely inaccurate"  
"Why's it inaccurate?" Hebe asked.  
"For starters it assumes the person who's written the test has an IQ of 200 and it's culturally biased and only assesses certain aspects of knowledge such as language maths and logic."  
"Well I'm glad you're so against them because Hebe was 15 points higher than you" Dorian said ruffling Torah's hair.  
"Haha I'm smarter than you" Hebe teased Torah, she knew Torah liked being the best at everything.  
"Whatever" Torah sulked.  
"But don't worry; you're still above the national average." Dorian consoled her, and it did indeed make Torah feel a bit better about herself. "But I'm still smarter than to both of you." He smiled.  
"What are you? A boy genius?" Torah asked. Dorian seemed to flinch at the remark and muttered something about Ice cold water.


	4. Scent

The Canteen was simple and clean, the smell of food was mouth-watering.  
"Beats school dinners" Dorian laughed grabbing a tray and asked for the pasta. The girls got the same and three glasses of water.  
"Got enough water?" Dorian asked  
"Probably go up for more" Torah said not picking up on his sarcasm; Hebe rolled her eyes at Torah's lack of awareness. It wasn't that she wasn't aware though, it was because it wasn't her main concern, Torah was busy picking up the scents of all the leopards in the room. Smells to faces as it were, Torah's scent memory was one of the best. This meant she already knew were half of these people had been as she'd picked up scents all over the lair and was now attributing them to their owner, and if she hasn't come across a scent before next time she does she'll know exactly who it was, this skill was invaluable.  
"Here I'll introduce you to some of the Juves, Kit doesn't seem to be here yet, I told him to be…" Dorian sighed. Hebe was nervous she felt her hands become sweaty, she looked over at Torah who seemed to be on autopilot, still concentrating on her scent tracking.  
"Torah" Hebe hissed.  
"What?" She replied with slight agitation. Hebe nodded at the table full of juves.  
"We're going over there?"  
"Yep"  
"ahh shit, there's loads of them" Torah hated juves in large numbers especially ones she didn't know. "What's the bet I hate all of them."  
"Be nice" Hebe warned.  
"I will, still doesn't mean I'm going to like them."  
"you never give anyone a chance"  
"That's not true" Torah scoffed "and besides I can tell whether I'll like someone straight away so there's no point me wasting my time with people I'll never like."  
"Well you haven't even met them yet so you can't have a gut instinct." They walked for a few more seconds behind Dorian in silence.  
"Hey guys" Dorian said shouting over them they all looked up, there were about 8, it was a mix of boys and girls and from their scents the age ranged from 16-19. "These are the Snowleopards from the IceChaser pack I'm sure you've heard about" Dorian pointed to the girls, Hebe and Torah forced friendly faces. "They're gonna eat with you, be nice" and at that he left.  
"Great" Torah said under her breath and Hebe kicked her.  
"I'm Hebe and this is Torah"  
"Snowdrop and Snowflake!" A pretty blonde exclaimed.  
"Really? That caught on already?" Torah said not hiding her irritation.  
"There's worse nicknames to have" Kit said from behind them he had a tray full of steak. The girls began to walk to the end of the table before a female red head grabbed them and told them to sit in the middle, Hebe took the seat next to the girl and Torah was forced to walk round to sit opposite her fellow snow leopard.  
"So how are you finding it here?" The redhead asked eating a small salad "I'm Cary by the way" She smiled.  
"It's nice" Hebe nodded Torah kept quiet.  
"Sorry to hear about your pack" A boy at the end of the table said with genuine sincerity.  
Hebe just nodded in response without turning to look up at him, not really wanting to discuss the matter.  
"Should probably introduce ourselves" The same boy said trying to lighten the mood, Hebe finally glanced up at him. He was good looking, rougher than Kit, he was unshaven, masculine with deep blue eyes and short dark brown hair. Torah looked up at Hebe, she wondered why she was staring at the boy, she turned to find the boy holding her gaze.  
_"Stop staring at him, you're making it so obvious" _This brought Hebe out of her trance which also seemed to break the boy's. Torah couldn't blame the boy for staring at Hebe, she was beautiful a soft face, hazel eyes, long caramel hair and rosy cheeks, something Hebe hated but were deemed adorable by everyone else. Torah by contrast had much sterner features; a long face with sharp cheek bones, straight nose which in the summer would be dusted lightly with freckles, dark chocolate hair and light green eyes, both girls even though different were beautiful.  
"I'm Leo" he smiled. The rest of the table began to introduce themselves, neither of the girls paid particular attention.  
"We've got a gathering tonight" Kit mentioned "You interested?"  
"Sure" Torah said finishing off her pasta she was always a fast eater and Hebe a painfully slow one. "Where abouts?"  
"You won't find it, we'll pick you up from your rooms around 8, you can meet the rest of the gang" he seemed excited.  
"The rest of the boys" Cary grinned at Torah, Torah just scowled in response, the redhead stopped grinning and seemed taken aback. Hebe glared at Torah  
_"Nice, Torah, stop glaring."  
"I don't like her."  
"She's just trying to be nice."  
_"As long as you keep your paws of Kaleb" A blonde sat at the other end of the table threatened, she'd said it with a giggle but her claws were ready to pop.  
"Who's Kaleb?" Torah asked purposefully pushing her buttons.  
"My boyfriend" She flicked her hair. Torah stifled a laugh raising her eyebrows at Hebe who returned the amused look.  
"Is it official now Bonnie?" Kit asked.  
"No, but I think it will be tonight." She squealed, Torah focussed and picked up a male scent on the girl, they'd slept together.  
"I can smell him on you" Torah said drinking her water looking over Hebe's head. Everyone seemed slightly taken back.  
"She's got a stupid sense of smell" Hebe tried to cover for Torah.  
"Sorry" Torah looked shifty.  
"Well" Bonnie smiled slyly "if you're interested he's a great lover, one night…"  
"I was not interested" Torah cut her off abruptly  
"Yeah Bonnie, no one wants to hear what you've been up to" Another boy laughed.  
_"Do not go after Kaleb"  
"Wasn't planning on it"  
"Shut up"  
"Well they aren't official and besides, he smells good."  
"I will do some serious cock-blocking"  
"You cock-block me and I'll cock-block you and Leo over there" _Torah giggled to herself  
_"What's funny?"  
"Leo the LeOpard"_ Torah put emphasis on the O  
_"Where do you think this stuff up?"  
"It's like the third thing you say." _  
"At 8" Kit smiled as he got up to leave.  
The girls finished their water and said goodbye to the table, waved at Dorian as they left the canteen and headed to their rooms.

"So?" Hebe asked.  
"So what?"  
"Smell anything interesting?"  
"Not particularly, they're all fucking eac hother" Hebe raised an eyebrow.  
"Their scents are all intermingled, kinda incestuous if you ask me"  
"God, I wonder what this gathering is going to involve" Hebe widened her eyes  
"Well looking at you and Leo I think there'll be a lot of intermingling"  
"How many has he?"  
"Fucked?" Torah said crudely  
"Yes" Hebe blushed  
"Only Cary" Hebe was quiet.  
"Bet you don't like her now either" Torah smiled.  
"Not true" Oh but it was.  
"Do we dress up?" Torah wrinkled her nose after a few moments of silence.  
"I have no idea." Hebe looked worried.  
"Ugh it was so much easier with…" Torah trailed off  
"Tait and George?"  
"Yeah, they didn't care what we looked like" The girls spent their days with no makeup, hair in buns and wearing hoodies and sweats.  
"We looked like 11 year old boys" Hebe laughed.  
"Whatever, I say we go in jeans and a nice top, it's safe."  
"Do we have any nice tops?" The girls were currently in black jeans, Hebe wearing a white vest and Torah a dark red.  
"Ahh fuck" Torah cursed…"Do you reckon one of the girls will lend us something?"  
"I don't really want to smell of them…" Hebe wrinkled her nose.  
"That's true."

They turned into the hallway that lead to their rooms when they bumped into a tiny red head carrying lots of shopping bags.  
"That's where you two are" She smiled "I'm Faith, this is Vaughn" She pointed to the large blonde male behind her. Torah sniffed Faith was a cardinal and he…wasn't leopard.  
"What are you?" Torah asked bluntly looking at Vaughn who was quite the sight, pure masculinity draped in shopping bags.  
"Jaguar" He said warily.  
"You didn't smell leopard." Torah nodded.  
"We have clothes for you!" Faith said raising the bags "We figured you wouldn't have much so we thought we'd take the trouble, Tamsyn told us your sizes"  
"Do you want to come in?" Torah pointed at the door.  
Hebe thanked Faith and rolled her eyes at Torah asking such a stupid question, and proceeded to open the bedroom door.


	5. Kaleb

Torah could not believe her eyes at the clothes, lingerie and beauty products Faith was pulling out of the shopping bags. She turned to look at Hebe who seemed equally as amazed and let out a small squeak.  
"I didn't really know what sort of things you liked…" Faith started  
"So she bought everything" Vaughn finished remarkably less enthusiastically. The red head scowled up at her mate, he squeezed her nose in response causing a smile to spread across her face, in fear of intruding at what seemed such a personal display of affection the girls turned to look elsewhere, the new clothes primarily.

"I suppose we can't use the excuse of not having anything to wear" Torah let out a breath, Hebe agreed.  
"Well girls, Vaughn and I have…business to attend to" Vaughn swooped the small framed woman off her feet and carried her out playfully.  
"Makes me feel so uncomfortable" Torah said rubbing her arms.  
"I know" Hebe smiled "I wish I could find my mate" she breathed, but both girls knew that mating was a one shot thing and Tait and George could have very well been those one shots. "You know I was thinking" Hebe began  
"I know what you're thinking and I wouldn't bother" Torah interrupted  
"No wait hear me out."  
"No!" Torah knew exactly what kind of impossible idea Hebe would spurt in attempt to lift their spirits.  
"We never actually mated with them did we?" She started.  
"Hebe, I am NOT talking about this!"  
"You never talk about anything" Hebe said taken aback  
"For a reason, it does no good." Hebe knew not to press the matter further; Torah would rather no hope at all than risk a false one.

Lucas paced up and down his office, with a 20 something male sat quietly at his desk.  
"I need you to watch the girls" He stood still in front of the Juve who looked up with green eyes that matched Lucas's emerald orbs.  
"The IceChasers" The boy's lazy tone often grated against some of the sentinels but Lucas knew Kaleb Larson was anything but lazy. Kaleb cocked his head slightly watching his fingers trace the wood of Lucas's desk. "Why?" He blinked slowly returning his gaze to that of his Alpha. Lucas was ready to make Kaleb a soldier; this was his task that would separate him from being a Juve, a sign of trust and loyalty.  
"I don't need them making a mess" Kaleb stood up out of the chair feeling restless, he'd been feeling caged for the past few days, he didn't understand why, he'd been running twice his usual amount trying to settle his beast but nothing was working. There was something the leopard knew that he didn't. "Don't you trust them?" He stood beside a bookshelf in the corner of the room, his low voice causing small vibrations to rumble through the air.  
"You're beast is restless" Lucas noted  
"I can handle it" He said quickly and Lucas knew he could, Kaleb had always been stronger than the other Juves his only rival was Kit, both had alpha scents. Kaleb had been with the pack for about 3 years, he'd been part of a Leopard pack down south, their alpha was corrupted and encouraged immorality. His parents left and found DarkRiver and of course were accepted by them and Kaleb was now rightfully considered a loyal member of the pack. The only problem of course was that now DarkRiver had two potential future Alphas and in these cases it only ever ended in blood. "The girls?" He pressed further.  
"They can be trusted I have no doubt about that" Lucas cleared his throat and walked towards the boy who was on the cusp of being a man. "One of them, Torah, she's unstable according to Sascha"  
"How unstable?" Kaleb held strong eye contact and ran his tanned fingers through his chestnut hair that would gleam with faint streaks of blonde in the sun. Lucas noted his fidgeting, Kaleb rarely fidgeted only when angry, nervous or drunk.  
"She'll be fine, probably, she's angry"  
"Obviously" He said nonchalantly  
"Yes, but Sascha believes she may become destructive, if you see hints of this alert me."  
"The other girl?"  
"Hebe, she shouldn't have similar tendencies but regarding both of them I need you to keep an eye on their relations with other members of the pack, the Juves have begun to settle and…"  
"Hmm" Kaleb grinned slightly "Rocking the boat" He leant into the wall.  
"Exactly."  
"Not exactly a hard job you've given me" There was a questioning tone.  
"No it isn't but it may prove to be an important one, you do this well and you'll earn your place" Kaleb moved towards the door his ears pricking up  
"Nice to know"  
"Incentive"  
"I don't need incentives Lucas" Kaleb smiled and walked out the office. Kaleb had only two incentives for anything, to become Alpha and to protect the few he cared about. Lucas followed him out the door and added  
"You'll be moving into the main den for the job" Kaleb stopped in his tracks and turned to face his alpha, he was used to living far out of the den, privacy.  
"Why?"  
"Close eye on the girls, anything peculiar and you tell me." Kaleb gritted his teeth. "Oh and I forgot to add, they have Psy abilities see what you can pick up on that."  
"When will I see these girls?" Kaleb was beginning to dislike them  
"They're your training partners, you'll be sitting in on meetings and hopefully you'll be spending more time with Kit, I hear he's quite taken by them" Lucas smiled hearing Kaleb's growl.  
"I'll watch them from a distance if they're with Kit" He turned in defiance  
"As long as you get the job done."  
"Yes Sir" He mocked under his breath. Lucas smiled, he'd chosen Kaleb for this job instead of Kit because he knew Kaleb wouldn't get tangled up with them. Kaleb had his affairs but emotions never came into the picture, no matter how deluded the girls were or how much they dreamed that he'd give his life for them he was almost as cold as Psy when it came to how he treated his lovers and as equally manipulative.  
"Poor Bonnie" Lucas shook his head thinking about the bubbly blonde who was head over heels for a man who was using her as a walking sex toy.

Kaleb wandered round the den looking for Bonnie, the animal was restless, if he didn't find her he knew he had his choice of lovers but it was more fun playing with Bonnie. He didn't feel guilty, it wasn't his fault women were such easy prey, so easy to manipulate and use, it was Darwinism survival of the fittest, and the weak were there to be used. He made a quick mental note to sniff out the girls tonight at the gathering but the thought of them did not linger he'd already discarded them as irrelevant, a means to moving up in DarkRiver hierarchy.

"Ready?" Kit asked the girls as they left Hebe's bedroom.  
"Yep" Hebe sighed.  
"Awesome, follow me Ladies" Hebe and Torah had spent the evening rifling through the clothes and finally settled on what they were wearing only moments before Kit had decided he was done waiting in the hallway. Hebe was dressed in rolled up jeans white plimsolls and colourful top, Torah on the other hand dressed in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt and blue plimsolls. Out of habit both girls unconsciously scraped their hair into buns walking out of the den, it was a nervous habit. Kit was taking them deeper into the forested area, Hebe was keeping track of their location, and she didn't fully trust Kit let alone all of the DarkRiver Juves. Torah had the same sentiment scent tracking and paying attention to the hidden language that helped the leopards navigate around the wooded area; scratch marks, carefully placed rocks etc… Kit sensed their anxiety.  
"Don't worry girls, you're safe" He laughed. They didn't relax however.


	6. Gathering

"Is this it?" Hebe asked somewhat disappointed when Kit seemed to halt. He laughed in response.  
"Look carefully" He nodded in the direction of what seemed to be a very well hidden cave.  
"Ooh" Torah raised her eyebrows  
"Keep this place quiet" He winked "Don't want the adults knowing about this little hideout" Torah decided not to mention she could smell Vaughn and Lucas in the area and she highly doubted that this was a location as 'secret' as Kit hoped.  
"Come on, I'll take you in, the party doesn't start until I arrive"  
"We're late?" Torah asked following Kit into the cave's entrance, they walked into the darkness.  
"Not really" Kit dismissed, the girls could hear the soft hum of music and chatter which got louder, and eventually a gleam of light shone from a crevasse which lead to a vast opening within the cave where the juves had seemed to congregate.  
"Wow" Hebe admired the décor, lanterns hung around the cave and plush pillows and rugs had been sprawled on the floor and against the rock walls. Drinks were stored in buckets full of ice which was starting to melt in the evening heat.  
"Pretty cool huh" Cary said walking towards the girls.  
"Yeah" Torah admitted despite herself.  
"Come on Hebe I'll show you around" Cary smiled taking Hebe's hand. Torah gave Kit a quizzical look as to why she was excluded, he shook his head in confusion  
"Cary can be a bit picky" He said somewhat apologetically  
"Ahh don't worry, I'm not sure I liked her anyway" Kit laughed and went to fetch a couple drinks. Torah looked around; there were roughly 50 juves present which seemed like a large number given the cave's size. She recognised most of the scents but those she didn't she made note of.

Kaleb found Bonnie, he'd tried to calm his animal but it didn't matter how many times he fucked her that evening the leopard was raking its claws against his insides. He'd given up when Bonnie had started complaining she was sore, her whining was enough to get rid of any guys boner.  
They'd left the den and headed towards the cave. Kaleb smirked at how the idiots thought the sentinels didn't know about it, of course they knew about it. 50 juves sneak out in one night and aren't causing havoc in the city; that would cause even the most idiotic leopard to be at least suspicious. "Such a trek" Bonnie grabbed his arm playfully, but Kaleb wasn't in the mood to play and growled slightly causing her to let go. They'd made it to the cave in relative silence; Bonnie sped off into the darkness to find her friends whilst Kaleb remained at a walking pace. He had no intention of meeting the snow leopards tonight; he could do his job from a distance. The music got louder as he neared the meeting spot and in a feline motion he slipped through the small archway into the room. He greeted a few of the leopards he walked past as he went to grab a beer from one of the buckets. He caught a strong scent as he bent down and stood up straight. He tried to focus where it was coming from and realised it would have been one of the snow leopards. Returning to pick up the drink he prowled the area attempting to track the scent.

Torah heard Bonnie's cackle and rolled her eyes at Kit when the bubbly blonde tottled over with a glass of wine.  
"How's it going Bonnie?" Kit cuddled the blonde "Phew from the smell of you I don't need any details" Kit mocked the fact Bonnie reeked of sex.  
"I'm sore" She pouted, Torah struggled to hide her distaste at the statement. But luckily Bonnie was quickly distracted and scuttled off to a tall male leant against the wall staring in their direction. From his scent Torah assumed it was Kaleb. She sniffed the air to collect more information about him and it was like a kick to the gut. She fought a growl as an unfamiliar sensation raked its way through her body. It was in that moment Torah decided to abandon her plan of pursuing the mysterious changeling and would instead have nothing to do with him. She eyed him once more in an attempt to understand what she could about him; it turned out to be a fruitless endeavour. He looked away to greet a friend and who guided him out of Torah's view, he was play fighting and laughing with the other changeling, the sound reverberated through the cave.

Hebe watched how much she drank, alcohol didn't always agree with her and she didn't want to make any bad first impressions. Cary tried to encourage Hebe to dance but Hebe declined, she couldn't bare dancing in public, it was borderline humiliating. Not wanting to be left alone however, she scanned the area for a familiar face; Leo was a few steps away. He'd spotted her and walked over.  
"Hey, how's it going" He placed his hand on her lower back, Hebe's eyes widened in response to the forward gesture. He seemed to notice and lifted his hand apologetically.  
"Sorry, not at skin privileges yet." He blushed and rubbed his neck "I get a bit confident after a few of these" He shook the bottle in his right hand. Hebe instantly regretted her involuntary reaction to Leo's surprise touch. She smiled as if to reassure him.  
"Don't worry about it I'm just a bit jumpy" Leo was glad he hadn't been fully rejected, changeling men treasured their egos.  
"I can understand that, must be intimidating"  
"Yeah just a bit" She cocked her head in a feline manner.  
"If you ever need anything" Leo began to blush again and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair "You can always come to me, for anything" He smiled. Hebe grinned unable to look away from his wide eyed gaze.  
"Th..thanks" She stumbled over the word shaking her head in attempt to concentrate once again, her caramel hair shone in the light and Leo fought the feline urge to play with it. His leopard half fought against his human half but he knew he had to head back home. His parents were leaving town for a while and he had to babysit his 4 siblings.  
"Anyway, I've got to be heading off, see you around." Hebe fought disappointment and reached out to touch his arm, assuring him silently that he had her skin privileges. He beamed back and turned to leave.  
The rest of the evening was pleasant Hebe eventually joined Kit and Torah who was trying her hardest to come across as sociable and friendly with varying degrees of success.

"eurghh" Hebe rubbed her eyes and slapped her bedside alarm. She looked at the blasted thing to see it was 7:30. She'd found a note on her door the night before saying that training would start this morning and to expect a knock on her door at 8:30, the same applied to Torah. It was the first night the girls had slept apart in a while but slightly tipsy and completely shattered it didn't seem to make difference. Hebe didn't have to check whether Torah would be up, Torah was a bit anal about time management and was rarely late. Hebe snoozed for a while and then forced herself to get ready.  
At 8:30 sharp there was a knock on the door, Hebe ran to put her shoes on and answered the door.  
"Vaughn!" Hebe wasn't expecting the Jaguar; Torah was standing next to him, ready and prompt as always.  
"Are you taking us?" Hebe looked puzzled  
"I didn't expect this either, I'm not an official trainer" Vaughn began, almost apologetically. "Lucas ordered it"  
"Do you have any qualifications?" Torah asked  
"I'm a sentinel" Torah scowled at his smart ass response.  
"I've been sparring with some of the Juves, they've been improving so Lucas asked me to assess and train you two" In truth Vaughn was placed to train the girls because he wasn't Leopard and nor were they; he could teach them how to fight alongside species that weren't their own, how leopards fought from an outsiders perspective and how they can tailor their techniques to suit that of DarkRiver.  
"Can't wait" Torah bounced on her toes.

_Hey guys, due the unpredictability of my everyday life, I can't upload in regular patterns so if you do want to keep following the story (which I WILL keep writing even if chapters are months apart, like this one, sorry T_T) Please feel free to add It to your alert list or something, It's awesome having you guys following the story, thanks for the support!_

Tess 


	7. The Test

Kaleb went through his routine, Vaughn was late. He thrust his fist into the air and then twisted to kick the invisible enemy. His frustration still growing within him, he sought to exhaust himself hoping he'd too exhaust his leopard that was baring its teeth. He grit his own as a bead of sweat rolled down his brow. He didn't want to think of the possible consequences of his unrest. Lucas had already noticed, soon the others will too, he didn't want to lose respect. He was calmer more collected than anyone else his age, he'd never once gone off the rails or had to be punished during his teen years like all the other juves had. Sure he played and had his fun but he was always the one thinking ahead, never had to prove his dominance to earn respect. He let out a grunt remembering his lack of troublemaking causing Tamsyn and some of the other maternal females to be worried about him. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm? He discarded the idea, he was 20 if his hormones were going to play up they would have done by now. Nevertheless he had to deal with what was making his cat go crazy before it pushed him over the edge. Vaughn opened the gym door with the two snow leopards beside him. Kaleb noted he hadn't sensed the three nearing which sent alarm bells ringing in his head, how badly was this beginning to affect him?  
"Kaleb, this is Torah and Hebe" Vaughn entered followed by the girls who were playing coy. He was confused as to why and then realised how intimidating he must have seemed, shirtless, sweating caught mid-training.

Torah couldn't help but trace his body with her eyes, rock solid abs damp with perspiration and gorgeous shoulders that threatened to made her weak at the knees. As Kaleb had reached for the towel she mentally slapped herself to get a grip.  
"Training partners" He said wiping his face. No one was sure if it was a question or observation.  
"Yes." Vaughn answered anyway.  
"Full assessment" Once again neither Torah nor Hebe could tell whether this was a question or statement from Kaleb. Vaughn didn't reply or answer not clearing up matters, he was watching Kaleb carefully however.  
"You okay?" Vaughn asked blinking lazily which barely hid his alertness. The juve stiffened and fought back a growl, contorting his face a little.  
"I'm fine" Kaleb turned away to put down the towel and get a drink.  
"Whatever" Vaughn said not believing him turning to face the girls. Hebe widened her eyes in mild worry, Torah seemed to recognise the leopard but he seemed shifty. Not someone she was happy to trust training with.  
"This is Kaleb" Vaughn began "He'll be training with the pair of you." Bonnie's boy Hebe thought to herself, and looked over to Torah who was trying her best to maintain eye contact with Vaughn. Hebe rolled her eyes at Torah's inability to focus around shirtless men.  
"I need to assess the both of you, Dorian says you were mid-level soldiers in your last pack."  
The girls nodded, even though they had been so much more than that. Kaleb looked up; the girls seemed too young to be anything but new recruits.  
"With all due respect however, your pack was considerably smaller than that of DarkRiver and therefor perhaps less competitive." Torah fought back a growl and knew what scalding remarks Hebe was fighting the urge to say. The aggression radiating off of the girls was not as limited as they'd hoped and Vaughn dropped his head hoping the girls would see his body language as a non-verbal apology. It had been accepted as they reigned themselves in.  
"Torah you will spar with me and Hebe you will spar with Kaleb" Torah didn't like the idea of Hebe fighting Kaleb. Hell Torah didn't like the idea of Kaleb being here at all after last night's encounter. She didn't say anything however and removed her top leaving her in leggings and a sports bra ready to fight Vaughn.  
"Claws?" Torah cocked her head.  
"Not this round darling" Vaughn smiled and ushered her towards him.

She ran head on, ducking the fist he'd thrown at her and twisting to throw a punch that would have broken a human's ribs but only cause serious bruising to a Jaguar the size of Vaughn whom made a mental note that she was faster than she looked. He stepped aside and prepared himself for the leg that was already swinging towards his face, he grabbed it and twisted. Torah responded by spinning her free leg to swipe the hand holding her right foot. The move worked but she mistimed her landing and hit the floor.  
"I guess some cats don't land on their feet" Kaleb chuckled as he evaded Hebe's punch but got a kick the jaw. It made Kaleb growl and Torah smile knowing Hebe had done it for her. She turned her attention back to Vaughn who was flexing the hand she'd kicked, at least she'd done some damage. She ran at him again and jumped to hit from above. Vaughn's eyes widened in surprise but he'd just about evaded the hit and cursed at himself imagining the state of his face if he hadn't. Torah was stronger than she looked; he'd also forgotten that Snow Leopards could jump the highest and farthest than any other cat. Landing on her feet this time, Torah kicked Vaughn's legs beneath him and straddled his body a split second after he'd hit the floor. She pinned his left arm down but hadn't reached for his right in time which was already swinging to flip the hold. She growled under his weight.  
"You're good" He smiled  
"But you're better" She mocked him and kneed him in the stomach which seemed to have winded him quite effectively.  
"You fight dirty" He said bent over on all fours as she stood up.  
"Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do" She swung and kicked him in the face, it seemed to make him really angry. He stood up and began an array of relentless attacks that Torah could just about avoid; she was too late for one of them and was thrown back against the gym wall. She gasped sharply and crumpled against the floor. Everything was blurry and she held onto her head to try and stop the spinning, she guessed she'd broken a rib. She saw Hebe out the corner of her eye get distracted and Kaleb near enough knock her out. Hebe lay on the floor as Kaleb went to make a final blow. It wasn't rational, and it wasn't smart but instinct was instinct and habits were habits. Torah's world sharpened in that instant and she leapt of the ground to throw Kaleb's body out of Hebe's reach. He seemed shocked but his eyes had gone cat and he leapt for Torah. He was in the air using the move Torah had on Vaughn, she grabbed his fist in her hand and twisted it round his back disjointing his shoulder, and he yelled and fell to the floor. Torah's claws popped without conscious effort and she had them by his throat within milliseconds. Pinching enough to draw surface blood Vaughn yanked her off of Kaleb.  
"No claws!" Vaughn growled. Kaleb stood up holding onto his shoulder blood tickling down his chest, breathing heavily and staring an angry hole into Torah. She let a growl run up her vocal chords in response. His eyes remained cat as he bared his teeth. Now was not the time to fuck around with him and he did everything he could to send those vibes to this girl. Torah didn't care; she was outright challenging him, threatening him. If Vaughn and Hebe hadn't been there to push them apart there's no doubt they would have torn each other to shreds.  
"Watch it" Vaughn warned the two of them. "It looks like we'll all need a little trip to Tamsyn's" He said still warning the two of them to calm down. Realising neither was going to back down on the staring competition they seemed to be having he went to block their view of each other, which worked a treat.

The girls sat on the front porch after Tamsyn patched them up. Tamsyn explained she needed to speak to Vaughn for a bit, but from what the girls could hear she was scolding him, probably for getting them in such bad shape on their first day.  
"Sorry"  
"It's fine" Hebe shook her head "Just a bit annoying I could have handled it." Hebe was a lot more frustrated with Torah than she was letting on, but Torah wasn't in the mood to face a pissed off Hebe and was grateful for her accepting the apology even if it was strained.  
"What do you think of Kaleb?" Torah looked at the male figure that had separated himself from the girls.  
"Dunno" Hebe shrugged.  
"Helpful"  
"Sorry, I've only met him once, clearly you're interested in him" Hebe snapped rather aggressively, Torah brushed off the comment.  
"I was just wondering don't get in a twiz, and I think he's a dick to clear that up." Hebe didn't respond deciding it was not worth the argument. "I saw you talking to Leo last night" Hebe smiled at the memory but tried to remain detached.  
"Yeah he was just being nice"  
"Nice?" Torah rubbed her ribs  
"Said we could come to him if we need anything"  
"We as in you" Torah scoffed. The girls looked up as Kaleb walked towards them.  
"What does he want?" Hebe looked at her pack mate. Torah just shrugged and made a noise that implied she knew as much as Hebe.  
"Don't worry ladies, not looking for a fight." Kaleb smiled slowly, all feline charm. "Wanted to introduce myself properly."  
"Oh don't worry the incorrigible grunting this morning sufficed" Torah smiled sweetly. His eyes narrowed for an instant but he quickly resumed the charming façade.  
"You're forgiven by the way, for wrenching my arm out of place."  
"I didn't apologize" Torah said dismissively.  
"Play nice" He crouched down in front of her so they were face to face. She would have hissed if she hadn't been focussed on his eyes; emerald green rimmed with jet black. Kaleb remained in place but shifted his attention to Hebe. "I've heard whispers about you Snowflake" Hebe's eyes widened in worried curiosity.  
"I'm Snowflake, she's Snowdrop" Torah didn't really understand why she'd all of a sudden become protective of the nicknames they'd been given but made sure to correct him.  
"What have you heard?" Hebe asked somewhat paranoid. Kaleb shifted to face her better.  
"Leo" Another smile crept across his face as he blinked lazily "He's alright, you could do better" He winked at her and nipped her ear.  
"Holy shit" Hebe recoiled in shock.  
"Oh I also hear you're a healer, careful all the male juves will be lining up at your door to get mended." He stood up as Vaughn opened the front door.

After Vaughn had dropped the girls back to the den they went straight to the canteen for breakfast.


	8. Philosophy

Torah's ribs had healed over the week and she was back on top form. Hebe had been training with Vaughn and Kaleb whilst she was confined to activities that involved far less physical exertion. She was mid-run learning DarkRiver territory and glad she could finally get out of the white zone. She didn't want to admit it but she didn't like Hebe being with Kaleb, not fully understanding her reasoning or logic she kept quiet. Kaleb was rude, arrogant and chauvinistic but he didn't pose a real threat to Hebe after all she was pack and Vaughn was there to protect her if anything did break out. Not that it would, Hebe didn't seem to rub Kaleb up the wrong way like Torah did. In fact, he seemed to like her. Torah ducked under a branch still in human form and stopped beneath a towering tree. Digging her claws into the bark she climbed swiftly, undressed and popped her clothes into one of the hollow parts of the tree. Leaping off mid shift she landed as a cat. No longer using the human part of her brain she resided into her animal and took the forest. Half an hour later she picked up a faint but familiar scent, she jumped up into a tree to conceal herself. It was Mercy, one of the sentinels. Mercy and Torah hadn't officially met but Torah had picked up her scent around the white zone and den. The leopard walked beneath the tree Torah was perched in and sat directly beneath her; a signal that Torah hadn't hidden as well as she thought she had. Seeing no other option she dropped down to greet the Sentinel. Mercy sniffed the Snow leopard in mild curiosity and made friendly sounds, Torah returned the greeting. Mercy invited Torah to run with her, an offer Torah did not reject.

A while later Mercy stopped by a small stream that ran through part of the wooded area, Torah assumed it would eventually lead to a larger body of water, something she would look out for another day. The two leopards lapped up the water, quenching their thirst. Mercy was around the same size as Torah in animal form; however, Torah's thick fur and longer tail made it appear she was the larger creature. She saw Mercy begin to shift and began to follow suit. The two women sat beside the stream, Mercy on an overarching rock and Torah on the bank dipping her toes into the clear cool water.  
"I love days like these". Mercy smiled stretching in the sun. Torah kept quiet, thinking about her new life with DarkRiver. It wasn't all that bad; the pack was welcoming, fun, strong…safe. However, DarkRiver wasn't IceChaser, the small pack was Torah's heart and soul. They weren't strong, powerful or wealthy like DarkRiver, they kept to themselves were self-sufficient yet helped anyone who needed it regardless whether they were pack. Maybe that's why they were prey to OrangeMist, they appeared weak, there's no strength in kindness these days only in ruthlessness. DarkRiver were ruthless, Torah made no mistake in believing otherwise, if Hebe or Torah put one foot wrong the repercussions would be severe.  
"Maybe the Psy have a point" Torah sighed a few moments later. Mercy narrowed her eyes at the brunette who'd clearly had a lot more on her mind than expected.  
"What do you mean?" She tried to keep her tone light-hearted, conversational. Torah sighed and eventually responded.  
"Cold, calculated. They're the strongest race for a reason, no one dares think they're weak, they aren't challenged and even if they are it doesn't matter, what's a child's to a parent who can't feel." Torah buried her head into her lap pulling her legs towards her out of the water. It was Mercy's turn to remain silent thinking about what the 17 year old had said.  
"You know, I don't think that's true."  
"Which bit."  
"All of it. What's strength without love?".  
"You don't get it" Torah stretched out, needing to move. "We're so stuck inside this emotions bubble, if you have no emotions nothing matters you don't need to reap strength from love because you don't need that sort of strength anyway, that strength is bred from a reliance on something we're used to, that being love, happiness and joy, how can you miss something you've never had." Torah paused to think "It's like Jax." She looked up to make sure the sentinel was following and understanding her. "People, who take it, take it because they get a particular 'strength' from it, a relaxation or whatever, I don't really know how it works, but they get a certain strength from it that they only need because they've become reliant on it by taking it in the first place. They're weak because they've tasted it and it creates a whole only it can fill." Mercy sat still trying to process what the girl had said.  
"So we only need love because we're addicted to it?" Mercy cocked her head to one side, Torah simply sighed in mild frustration, clearly the sentinel hadn't fully comprehended what she was trying to say.  
"You need to talk to someone who's better at this sort of stuff"  
"No one gets it" Torah sighed "Even Hebe tells me to stop talking after a while, she says it hurts her head."  
"Where do you get these ideas anyway?"  
"Philosophy." Torah answered quietly "It was a passion of mine before OrangeMist used my pack as target practice." Mercy flinched at the brutality of the metaphor.  
"I'm not going to pretend I fully understand what's going on in your mind. But Torah, don't you ever think that pack, that emotion is a weakness, okay?" Mercy bent down to take the girl's hands.  
"I suppose I can't" Torah whispered looking up into Mercy's eyes "After all, I haven't even decided what strength or weakness is yet." Mercy didn't know how to react to this girl's mind, but she allowed a slow smile to brighten her face one that Torah found the courage to mimic.

The trip back was peaceful once at the white zone, Mercy quickly nuzzled Torah's neck letting her know that she was there for her before she left to run her shift. The Snow Leopard plodded back to the den to shower off and eat. Once she arrived at her door she quickly shifted and entered so no one saw her nakedness. Of course Changelings didn't mind nudity, but she was new and a teenage girl, a need for privacy was natural. She found a note on one of the coffee tables written in Hebe's rounded hand-writing. _"Gone with Leo to the City, couldn't find you, see you later." _Torah sighed at the sheer practicality of the note, no 'love you' or kisses, Hebe was always straight to the point, sometimes to the extreme where Torah questioned whether the depth of love and loyalty was equal. She always knew she was being stupid though, Hebe loved her equally she just showed it differently, sometimes not at all. Torah craved open and deep affection with those she trusted and loved and cold to those she didn't, Hebe on the other hand was mild with everyone.

Hebe laughed as Leo jumped out to grab her.  
"No! No don't tickle me" She squirmed out of his hold still laughing. He did as she asked and ruffled her hair.  
"What do you think of the city?" He put an arm round her shoulder. Hebe had spent the past week bonding with the other juves, particularly Leo. He'd decided it would be good to get Hebe out of the den and show her around town, it'd proven a good idea.  
"It's nice" She smiled up at him.  
"Nice?"  
"Really nice" She beamed up at him, butterflied in her stomach. His gorgeous blue eyes hit her every time, the more she looked at them the more colours and patterns she discovered. The two were snapped back into the real world when they heard a familiar wolf whistle.  
"Well well look who we've found out of the den" Kit swaggered over and pinched Hebe's nose.  
"Thought she needed some fresh air."  
"Too right, is he looking after you?" Kit asked playfully.  
"Hey mind your own business" Leo punched his arm playfully still holding onto Hebe. Kit raised his arms in defence.  
"Don't mind me I'm just curious that's all." He winked at the two.  
"What was it that killed the cat?" Hebe turned to Leo.  
"Hmmm" Leo adopted a 'thinking' face.  
"Alright I see how it is, I'll catch you around."  
"Have you seen Torah?" Hebe asked before he left.  
"I saw her with Mercy in the woods this morning whilst on a shift." Kit even though he was a soldier was still considered a juve by all, something he resented slightly but acknowledged his friendship group being made up primarily of juves didn't help the matter.  
"She probably needs to get out her room after all that bed rest Tamsyn's been prescribing her." Hebe smiled.  
"Yeah I know, shame about her ribs but she seems to be running smoothly again. You guys are so…fluffy."  
"We need all the fur to keep us warm."  
"You're not up north anymore darling" Leo pulled her in closer.  
"There's nothing I can do about that." Hebe shook her head and pulled away playfully.  
"Just wait, I bet they start moulting." Kit laughed.  
"Not cute." She narrowed her eyes but there was a humour written all over her face.  
"Whatever, see you around"

"What's wrong?" Leo asked on the drive back to the den.  
"Nothing" Hebe said rubbing her head "Just a headache. I've been getting them lately, probably just sick."  
"If it gets worse go see Tamsyn."  
"I feel bad, she always seems so busy. Torah's been getting them too, it's probably a head cold or something."


	9. Haze

Torah had been working on her Tp with Sascha whilst she was confined to her room the past week and had been making quick progress to the point where Sascha was helping her strengthen her telepathic shields believing if Torah was to advance any further she would begin to pick up outside psychic noise, something that would be nothing short of a nuisance. The drive wasn't too long but her eyes hurt beginning to strain slightly, the headaches were getting worse she thought to herself. She put the car on automatic and reached for the painkillers in her bag. She looked at the nearly empty pack and promised herself to not take any more before she OD'd. She arrived at the Alpha's home a few minutes early and was greeted by him at the door.  
"How are you doing sweetheart?" He stroked the back of her head as she squeezed pass him.  
"Yeah I'm fine, glad I can actually do things now" She smiled.  
"That's good, bed rest is no fun"  
"Funny that it's all you ever want to confine me to." Sascha said with a playful smile.  
"Well I'm not so strict on the _rest_ part" He winked at his mate and then looked back at Torah who was somewhat shocked at the overt sexual connotation.  
"Lucas you're making the poor girl uncomfortable." Sascha tapped him on the arm and then guided Torah into the lounge area. After offering young girl water and some biscuits Tamsyn had made she sat opposite the young changeling.  
"How have you been feeling?" It was a simple question but was one that held a lot of weight, if anyone was to understand the pain Torah had been feeling after the loss of her pack it would be the E-Psy in front of her, purely because this E-psy could _fee_l it. After a pause, gathering her thoughts Torah answered.  
"Better, I've had so much to take my mind off of everything even when confined to my room" Torah smiled at the memory of Kit keeping her company even when she didn't want it. "It's when I'm alone with nothing to do" Torah choked slightly forcing herself to not think about her little brother who she missed more than anyone, Oliver.  
"Hey" Sascha put her hand on Torah's lap soothing her with words and her ability.  
"I want to hurt" Torah said quietly rejecting the help. "I owe it to them."  
"I know, but you need to heal too, you also owe them to live the rest of your life happy." Fighting back the tears Torah swallowed and cleared her voice.  
"Can we, you know, do what I came to do?"  
"Of course." Sascha smiled and the women worked for 3 hours Torah was determined to master what she was being taught and by the end of the session had fully functioning telepathic shields.  
"I want to test you and Hebe" Sascha said thoughtfully  
"What kind of test."  
"A gradient test, perhaps I could organise something with Devraj at Shine. I'm not sure whether they have the equipment to do it but there's no harm in asking."  
"Yeah sure sounds g-good" Torah winced as a piercing pain went through her skull. "Ahh shit" she picked up the cool glass of water and put it to her temple.  
"What's wrong?" Sascha moved to sit next to the girl.  
"Nothing it's just these damn headaches" The words were said through gritted teeth. "Clearly the painkillers aren't strong enough" She tried to laugh but another sharp pain seared through her head causing her to snarl.  
"Is it a migraine?" The snow leopard couldn't answer for the next array of pains caused her to yelp and her vision to blur.  
"Is everything okay?" Lucas called poking his head through the doorway.  
"I don't know" Sascha said helplessly now taking Torah's full weight as she was slumped snarling at the pain.  
"Can you get Tamsyn through the web?" Lucas pulled Torah off of Sascha to relieve his mate from the weight of the changeling.  
"Yes I've done it already!" Sascha panicked tearing slightly. "What if it's something I've done?" She was near hysterical.  
"Sascha Darling, calm down I don't need two women breaking down on me." The words were calm but Lucas was worried for the Juvenile writhing in his arms. He spent the next few moments trying to calm her with no success. "What were you doing before this happened?"  
"We were working on her shields; she's been doing so well her range has more than quadrupled, I want to get her gradient tested she's got to be at the high spectrum she's improving every-"  
"Sascha!" Lucas used his free hand to shake her "You're rambling". She nodded breathing deeply.  
"Oh my!" The cardinal gasped "She's been expending so much energy! She's dying!"  
"Now Sascha let's not overreact." Tamsyn said calmly running into the room.  
"I didn't even smell you" Lucas let the Healer take Torah from him.  
"I ran very fast." She said slightly breathless eyes intent on the girl.  
"Tamsyn, she needs biofeedback."  
"How do we get it to her?"  
"We have to integrate her somehow."  
"How do we do that?" Lucas asked noticing that Torah was no longer in as much obvious pain.  
"She's steadying, perhaps we can stabilise her, Talin coped with a need for feedback for years." A further 10 minutes passed, Torah blacked out for a few moments but was awoken by a panic stricken Sascha.  
"Oh thank goodness! I thought she was dead." Sascha hugged her mate finally relaxing.  
"I wouldn't have let that happened." Tamsyn said calmly but the feral undertone was unmistakeable.  
Torah groaned putting her hand on her head.  
"No using any psychic power at all. Do you hear me?" Tamsyn put every ounce of dominance in her words.  
"Yes ma'am" Torah attempted a mock salute but had to steady herself whilst sitting up.  
"Good I thought I was going to have to have another battle with you." She narrowed her eyes.  
"I learnt my lesson" Torah had fought Tamsyn tirelessly about being confined to bed and as a result had a soldier situated outside her room to stop her relentless attempts to escape.  
"We're going to need to link you up to the web. It's my fault I've been making you expend so much psychic energy with no source of feedback."  
"Oh, that's what the headaches were." Torah paused thinking "What about Hebe? She's been having them too…oh my god what if she's not okay?"  
"Shh, I'm sure she's fine I would have been contacted, but she'll need to be hooked up too."  
"You make it sound like life support." Torah chuckled finally being able to steady herself without Tamsyn's support.  
"Well it is I suppose." Sascha sighed.

Later that day, not wanting to waste time Faith, Sascha and Amara joined their mates at Tamsyn's home to integrate the girls into the web. Hebe and Torah sat in the corner waiting to hear what the Psy of the pack thought the best method would be.  
"So you're okay?" Hebe asked for the fifth time.  
"Now."  
"Good, good." She nodded still processing what had happened. "It makes sense why you were getting worse headaches you've been doing more Psy stuff… I just thought you were being a hypochondriac."  
"For Christ sakes, I'm not a hypochondriac I'm sick of people saying that."  
"New pack new start I guess."  
"Look okay, I had ice packs on my hips because they're lop sided so they hurt if I run too much, why would I make that up?" Torah said referring back to the time she couldn't walk for two days.  
"Have you actually had an x-ray to prove you're lopsided?"  
"No but it's what Robert said." Robert had been IceChaser's healer.  
"Whatever." Hebe brushed Torah off.  
"You're so annoying." She hit her pack mate out of frustration.  
"Ouch." Hebe struck back "That was so unnecessary."  
"You're unnecessary." Torah's childish response earned her another punch.  
"Hey stop hitting each other I don't want one of you inducing another seizure." Dorian said sternly.  
"Aye Aye Captain" Torah sulked.  
"Douche." Hebe said under her breath. The girls were now back on good terms deciding to aim their frustration at Dorian.  
"We have a theory, it's important to mention this isn't 100%." Amara said approaching the girls flanked by her mate who wrapped his arm around her in an easy but protective embrace, an embrace that let the M-Psy know that he was always there for her, no matter what. Torah looked at the other mated pairs, who were all secure in the knowledge that they were loved unconditionally, she envied them a great deal. "We believe you two are linked to each other having a two way net, one strand connecting the both of you to each other."  
"We're going to sever that link and join you to ours." Faith finished.  
"How do you know we won't just link together again?" Hebe asked  
"I'll stop you, Faith will make sure Torah enters our link and Amara will take care of you I will block any connections you try to make to each other before you enter our web." Sascha smiled.  
"What are the dangers?"  
"We can't really say Torah, the largest danger is you don't successfully link up to our web and in Sascha blocking you two from hooking up to each other you're left with absolutely no feedback." Amara said gently.  
"It's not that large of a risk it's unlikely you'll be permanently hindered from relinking." The Alpha's wife added.  
"What about a blood-bond?" Lucas put forward the idea whilst played with his mate's hair. "They could link up directly to me."  
"Would you be happy about that?" Sascha was surprised at the offer considering his initial apprehension about the snow-leopards being part of the web of stars.  
"They're pack." He looked at the girls and acknowledged them as family. All 3 Psy looked at each other and nodded in agreement.  
"If you're happy with it then let's do it. It means that all 3 of us can focus on separating the both of you." Sascha nodded at her mate.  
"Is this going to hurt?" Torah winced.  
"Probably." Dorian winked handing his butterfly knife to Lucas whom proceeded to slice both of his hands, drawing blood.  
"Your turn." The Alpha winked.  
"Hebe you're going have to do it for me." Torah took the blade from Lucas handing it to her best friend.  
"Yeah same." She took a deep breath "Give me your hand"  
"This better work." Torah squeezed her eyes shut and held back a growl as she felt the tip of the blade pierce her skin."Ow"  
"Stop being such wimps." Vaughn chuckled.  
"Fuck you." Torah snarled at him taking the blade from Hebe and returning the favour. Lucas walked towards the girls and took both of their bloodied hands.  
"Ready?"  
"Don't really have a choice." Torah smiled and that's when she felt the snip and everything became hazy. Within a few seconds the world returned.  
"Is that it?" Hebe asked.  
"Open your psychic eye." The girls concentrated and entered the web.  
"Holy…" Torah laughed. The web was beautiful, the girls like the Sentinels and Sascha branched off of Lucas who was central to the web.  
"Torah, look out our line." Hebe smiled. The link that connected them was strong and beautiful, the bond of sisterhood.  
"Family is more than blood" Sascha smiled.  
"Good call Lucas." Vaughn slapped him on the back.  
"I'm not Alpha for nothing."


	10. Little Leo

The web had taken some time getting used to but Hebe no longer saw it as an invasion of privacy but as a network and a strange source of comfort. She brushed her hair in the vanity mirror ready to go see Leo. She smiled to herself thinking of the male leopard that was so nurturing, generous and kind. He had taken and was still taking such good care of her since she'd joined the den, no longer feeling out of place but as a part of the pack and juvenile group. She placed the brush on the table and sighed unhappy with the way her hair had defiantly settled. She felt bad that she wasn't as excited to see him as she should have been. As much as she enjoyed Leo's company and caring she was beginning to find her own again and Leo was a submissive when she required a dominant male. His role as a carer clearly enticed the two towards each other as she needed to heal but now she was recovering and as cold as it was she no longer saw Leo as a protector or healer, he was losing his position in her life. There had been a few stolen kisses, whispered nothings and flirtatious jests but nothing that screamed relationship or hinted that the pair had sizzling chemistry. Somewhat disappointed she decided she wouldn't say anything.

"Hey" Leo's eyes lit up as Hebe strolled over. "How you feeling today?" He asked hugging her and then leading her towards the forest.  
"Yeah fine" She smiled avoiding any major eye contact. "Do you wanna go on a run? We're not training today"  
"Cat or human?"  
"Cat." Hebe wasn't in the mood for conversation and was beginning to resent being there, she knew she was being stupid but she couldn't help it she was beginning to shut him out. Leo didn't complain, requesting Leo turned around Hebe began to strip and then shifted, Leo quickly did the same. Leo was a surprisingly large cat given his submissive nature; he had the build of a soldier. He nuzzled her neck she growled playfully and then shot off with Leo at her heels. She was faster than him, which disappointed her slightly and seemed to frustrate him she slowed down to run by his side pretending she was worn out.  
Leo knew Hebe was doing it for him, he hated that he wasn't as fast as her, sometimes he resented being a submissive it was rare for men but it happened. He would never be strong, fast or lethal but he knew how to take care of people and he hoped she would see that. A mixture of scents hit both of them, they carried on running however until a group of cats became visible ahead. The group noticed Leo and Hebe and waited for the pair to reach them. Hebe never expected she'd feel this way but being the only snow leopard she couldn't help feel singled out, she was also the only girl in a group of eight. One of the cats began to shift followed by two more, it was Kaleb and two of his friends, Nile and West.  
"Hey sweetie" Kaleb strolled over to Hebe and scratched her ears, feeling uncomfortable she moved her head out of his reach, he pulled away.  
"We were all about to go try out the new circuit the wolves have set up, beat their scores show 'em how it's done if you wanna come?" West offered.  
"Torah's up there already with Mercy, be good to see some sisterly rivalry" Kaleb's eyes twinkled. Leo nodded his head in acceptance of the offer which caused a few smirks to be passed round  
"I would just watch, wouldn't want to embarrass yourself Little Leo" Nile stared down the submissive who was forced to overt his glance which caused West to snicker and a growl to rise from Hebe's throat. Kaleb was quick to quieten the boys.  
"Come." He smiled and shifted in a thousand glistening colours.

Hebe had never been into wold territory although she knew of the close bond the two packs had. There was a large group of changelings and their human counterparts in the area, Hebe guessed around 60 probably more, they were all cheering for the pair racing the course. Looking to her left she saw Kaleb come to perch next to her their fur touching. A pang raced through Hebe, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind, her realisation that Kaleb was strong and very dominant and that was what she needed. The course was tough; it started with a run through thick mud that seemed to suck in limbs and not want to return them, after escaping the mud one needed to crawl under a low roof of barbed wire. Following that two ropes hung from high trees and the contestants had to climb up and then descend the trees. The pair would then need to carry a weight to the next station and then perform a series of exercises, once complete there were an array of monkey bars and a sprint full of tap doors and booby traps. Hebe wasn't sure whether she really wanted to try it, Leo placed his head on his paws clearly wanting nothing to do with it. Slightly disappointed in him Hebe strolled over to a familiar leopard female.  
"Need some clothes?" She ruffled the snow leopard's head and handed her some kit, she took it in her mouth and ran to a relatively hidden area to shift and change. The boys changed in followed suit but changed in a far more public fashion.  
"Hey" Torah walked up behind Hebe.  
"You done it yet?"  
"Look at me I'm way too clean to have tried it, I want to though. You going to do it?"  
"I dunno, there's so many people here"  
"Makes it more fun though"  
"Kaleb said you were with Mercy."  
"Thought I smelt him" Torah sighed heavily.  
"What's wrong?" Hebe asked feeling Torah's unease through the web.  
"Nothing it's fine, how's Leo?"  
"Meh, talk to you about it later."  
"Think I already know."  
"Is it that obvious?" Hebe asked, Torah merely shook her head as they walked towards West and Kaleb making bets on who would win the next race.  
"Hey" Torah made an effort to greet the pair.  
"What's up" Kaleb said not bothering to look at Torah, knowing it wasn't a real question rather than a formality she didn't bother answering.  
"You gonna do it?"  
"mhm" Kaleb nodded "You?" He turned his head to look at the chocolate haired girl.  
"Of course"  
"Who you paired with?"  
"I was gonna go with Mercy but it would be an unfair fight, want someone who I stand a chance next to."  
"You and Hebe?" West smiled  
"Put your fantasies away West" Kaleb murmured.  
"No." Torah looked over to Hebe to make sure she wouldn't offend her.  
"Torah's better with weights and stuff, if it was just speed we'd be a closer match"  
"I would say you could pair up with me, but you wouldn't stand a chance." Kaleb smiled as he watched a young wolf male swear as he lost his shoe in the mud.

"Please" Torah scoffed.  
"You're up"  
"I see Cary, I'll see if she needs a partner" Hebe jogged over to the red head. The group signed up to the competition and waited for their names to be called.


	11. The Race

Torah was nervous, sick to her stomach nervous, she didn't want to mess up in front of everyone. She knew she was fast but she wasn't going to be able to beat Kaleb, he had alpha in him for Christ sakes! Hopefully he would trip or hurt himself but looking at his lithe body stretch and warm up she didn't think it was a likely possibility.  
"Shit" She said to herself under her breath.  
"Try not to dislocate his shoulder" Vaughn came up behind her, she didn't respond feeling too ill to focus. "He'll be slowest at the rope climb, you need to get him there."  
"Why?"  
"It involves too much balance and centre of gravity, he's spent his life thinking he's too good for it."  
"But he's a cat, we have tails"  
"He's better than humans, not better than a changeling. Take advantage of how far you can jump as well"  
"There's no distance jumping involved Vaughn." The Jaguar didn't reply leaving it to the snow leopard to figure out how to best use her attributes. He nodded to Hebe as she walked past him on her way to see Torah.  
"You ready."  
"No."  
"You'll be fine."  
"I know I'll be fine, I want to win…How are you."  
"Yeah I'm okay, Cary isn't that good, probably be better up against Nile or West but oh well."  
"At least you'll win."  
"Bit empty though." Torah heard her name be called alongside Kaleb's telling them to make their way to the start.  
"Oh shit, my stomach is all over the place" Torah breathed deeply, trying to clear her head and ignore the raging nerves thrashing inside of her due to an inherent need to win and succeed.  
"You okay, SnowFlake?" Kaleb winked as he took off his top.  
"It's a race not a strip tease."  
"Don't worry I'm saving that for your sister." He said as they went to take their marks. Anger boiled through her.  
"Keep your hands off her you little-"She was cut off when the beep signalling the start went off. She was caught off guard and he was ahead of her, the bastard had done it on purpose she thought to herself. She reached the mud a fraction of second later than Kaleb and found her foot, half a foot deep in the rechid stuff. She looked over to find Kaleb in a similar predicament but his strength was helping him wade his way through. Torah managed to pull her leg out seconds later to find a dried patch, she looked for more but there were few of them and far between. As Kaleb was making a good 5 meters head way it dawned on Torah what Vaughn had meant.  
"Jump" She whispered to herself and narrowed her eyes. Steadying herself on the dried patch she crouched and leapt. She made it 3 quarters of the way. She heard various protests come from Kaleb but the umpires declared there was no mal-practice. He still wasn't that far behind her she'd aimed for another dried patch and jumped again making it to dry land. Turning round it was apparent Kaleb was making use of the same tactic but leopards not being as good a jumpers as Snow leopards he was doing so with less success. She quickly dived under the barbed wire and began to pull her way through with Kaleb a few meters behind her. The mud wasn't as bad here but it was still awkward to manoeuvre in. She could hear Kaleb catching up with her, his upper body strength out matching her own. Once free Torah was ahead by mere seconds and ran for the rope. Claws were not allowed, though she didn't see how they would have helped. She considered jumping but decided not to in case it would be considered cheating; she'd already risked it once in the mud. She climbed speedily and with relative grace she looked down to see Kaleb struggling to stop the rope from swinging but his upper body strength once again came in handy as he unravelled his legs and pulled himself up only using his arms.  
"Jesus Christ" Torah muttered as she reached the top of the rope, hooking her leg over a branch she began to descend the tree and in a rush slipped and had to catch herself, wasting time. Kaleb was further behind her than he was before the climb, she couldn't afford to waste a second. Being far more reckless; Kaleb dropped further than Torah was daring to, gaining ground on her. Although Kaleb's attributed weight was heavier than hers he'd caught up with her by the time they had to perform various exercises from Clap push ups to jumping on and off a high crate. Still even the monkey bars were the next challenge and needless to say by the end of them Kaleb had passed her by a few feet. It was now down to the final leg, the sprint both of them avoided the first half of the traps with relative success but Torah found herself just skirting a trap door causing her to slow and for Kaleb to gain even more ground. She pushed herself to catch up but he'd passed the finish line 3 seconds before her.  
"Fuck!" She said breathlessly; sweat dripping into her eyes and mouth. Kaleb was surrounded by the onlookers congratulating him on his record time for one of the categories.  
"Hey don't beat yourself up you did great, fastest female juve." Mercy picked Torah off the floor, it was little comfort to know she'd won something.  
"I should have jumped the rope."  
"Hey stop it, what's done is done, you did great really impressed people. Kaleb has alpha in him and he only beat you by like 4 seconds."  
"3" Torah pointed to the screen.  
"3 seconds" Mercy smiled.  
"I better be a good loser and congratulate him." Kaleb turned to face the brunette his smile fading. "Good race, well done" Torah said rather convincingly, a few locks of hair fell across his mud streaked forehead as he nodded accepting the compliment. Torah was shocked at the lack of smugness in his demeanour and next words "Takes two for a good race." He smiled and turned to slap Nile on the back who was up next racing West.

Glad Torah had done well although she knew that the competitive 17 year old would be less than pleased she lost, Hebe was more concerned with her own race. Although Cary should be an easy competitor nerves were a natural, unwanted but natural. West and Nile's race was pretty evenly matched; however, West's love of cakes and biscuits let him down at the sprint being heavier than Nile. Her heart jumped as her name was called she got ready to take her place. The crowd still entertained by the races called out their names in encouragement among those was Torah's and Kit's who had turned up in time to see the end of the last race.

Torah wasn't worried about Hebe's race, Hebe would win easily and even if she didn't she would take it well, better than herself. The race started well, Hebe already making a good distance, by the rope climb she was already miles ahead.  
"I don't get it, if Hebe's a Healer why is she so-"  
"We didn't have the luxury of settling into our designated roles, she was trained like a soldier, with such a small pack everyone could move between roles, I guess eventually that must have seeped into our genes, even our most submissive would match your lowest soldiers." Torah cut Kit off.  
"Oh, quite handy I guess." Torah looked at him and raised an eyebrow  
"Not handy enough" she turned back to watch Hebe finish the exercises and begin the final sprint. Realising he'd dug a hole for himself Kit didn't say anything until the end of the race.

"Yay!" Hebe put her hands in the air a big smile on her face in playful happiness.  
"Well done" Leo ran over and gave her a hug. She smiled up at his big blue eyes and kind face happy to have him there. At least she was until; a group of juves came to congratulate Cary and herself as well. She all of a sudden became inexplicably self-conscious and pulled away from the boy to instead turn to Cary. The worst bit was she knew he knew; how could he not? She wasn't in love with Leo but she loved him as a friend and person none the less and couldn't stand to hurt him.

Torah decided to congratulate Hebe later, wanting to avoid the large swarm of juves surrounding her pack mate. Kaleb was heading back through the forest back to the den, where she planned to go, feeling uneasy about what she was about to do she ran up to him.  
"Hey, wanna head back?" She smiled cocking her head to the side, he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her in a slow arrogance.  
"Don't get confused Cat, I want to bang your kitten of a sister, not you." A smirk ripe on his face.  
"Jesus, not every girl who talks to you wants to bang you, and that includes Hebe"  
"We'll see about that, won't we?"  
"You touch her, and I will shred your eyes out." She leaned closer to him and said it through gritted teeth. Kaleb's eyes widened mocking her by pretending he was shocked with a smile drawn across his lips. God he was so irritatingly handsome, slapping the thought away Torah hissed at him and left.  
_  
I'm thinking of giving Kaleb the next chapter, I like exploring his character- if you guys can't tell yet this is gonna be a rather long fic we still have a lot of ground to cover :D I just really hope you enjoy it and commenting means so much in case you have questions or ideas, even complaints. _

_Thank you so much for taking the time to read this ___

T x 


	12. The Update

"How are things with the girls." Lucas entered Kaleb's quarters uninvited.  
"Not much to comment on." Kaleb muttered pulling a white t-shirt over his head.  
"Nothing at all?" Lucas probed further. Kaleb frowned slightly avoiding eye contact, the itching and the ache was getting worse, he tried his best to give nothing away.  
"I dunno, umm Hebe is popular, Torah less so…she doesn't seem to be sitting well with most of the juves, well the females particularly, she's fine with Kit…hasn't really made much effort with anyone."  
"I heard you two raced together"  
"Had to prove a point after she pulled my arm out of its socket."  
"I also heard you didn't beat her by much." Lucas smiled hoping it would evoke some emotion from Kaleb who was currently far too guarded.  
"She's good." He said curtly looking up to see his alpha strolling towards him and then taking boy's face in his hands. It was a tender act that Lucas knew the juve wouldn't have had appreciated in public but perhaps it was what he needed in private. Reluctantly Kaleb leaned into his alpha's left palm.  
"Maybe I've put too much on your shoulders." Lucas frowned.  
"No." Kaleb quickly interjected pulling away, holding his alpha's steady gaze for a few long moments before he was forced to look away. Clenching his jaw he cursed and turned away, there was little you could hide from Lucas and what you couldn't hide from him you would definitely never get past Sascha.  
"Sascha is worried about you."  
"She been spying on me?" He said exasperated.  
"She said it was hard to ignore. Want to tell me what's going on?"  
"I would if I knew." Lucas stayed silent observing the boy's room, that was practically bare, only the essentials; he'd always been a minimalist and a compulsive cleaner. "My leopard isn't happy and I've been trying everything."  
"By everything I assume you mean Bonnie." Lucas gave him a side glance with a slight grin on his face "Bonnie's not very good at keeping her stories to herself." He saw Kaleb give a worried look "Don't worry it's all very good things." Lucas added but Kaleb didn't look any more relieved. "Do you need to get away from the den."  
"That's a wolf thing, cats don't go lone" Kaleb moved away from his window and sat on his plush immaculately made bed. Lucas stayed put but after a seconds thought went to join him, it was a rare occasion when Kaleb's cracks were showing when his vulnerabilities were almost laid bare, he wanted to handle the situation with the care it required.  
"It's not common but it happens." Lucas gazed at the blank wall in front of him.  
Sighing Kaleb flung himself backwards gazing up at the ceiling. "I don't want to leave the den."  
"It might just be a passing phase. Tell me more about the girls"  
"As I said before they don't seem troublesome In themselves but Hebe seems popular with the males and rivalry might pick up once she drops Leo for good" Kaleb struggled to believe it was taking her this long.  
"Leo?" Lucas was surprised "How about Torah."  
"If she keeps being…herself we may have a problem with some of the more feisty girls. She asserts dominance where she should have none and if anything comes across arrogant and a bit of a bitch."  
"Sascha adores her."  
"Sascha adores everybody." Lucas knew the boy was right but his mate also felt the very essence of people and from what she'd told him Torah was nothing but good hearted.  
"I think she just needs to settle, she's scared, hurt."  
"Or she's just a brat."  
"Maybe, I don't know if you're aware of this but the girls have also been significantly demoted since they became part of Dark River, they used to be Captains, so she's bound to be more dominant."  
"But then why isn't Hebe?" Kaleb sat back up.  
"I don't know" Lucas hadn't thought about it until now, but sometimes Torah's dominance outreached that of a Captain whilst Hebe's did not. It was probably rather frustrating for the girl for the dominance she gained in IceChaser held no ground in DarkRiver, it may fool some of the younger members of the pack but it didn't the older that kind of position and influence had to be earned.  
Lucas got up to leave but turned around when at the door. "Kaleb don't be an ass, you have talk to me when you get rattled or to someone. We're a pack for a reason." He pulled the door open when he felt the need to add "Oh and if you go after Hebe, break up with Bonnie in the nicest way possible I don't need maternal females up my ass about how you treat the girls." The thought of the maternal females gave him a headache. Kaleb sat dumbfounded it was really impossible to keep anything from the DarkRiver alpha.

"Torah!" Hebe screamed entering her friend's room.  
"Jesus what?" Torah poked her head from around the bathroom door. Turning to face the girl who usually held all of her affections but at this moment in time was the focus of her frustrations.  
"I had a little chat with Cary."  
"Oh Christ." Torah rolled her eyes and closed the bathroom door on Hebe's face, avoiding the imminent discussion whilst wrapping a towel around her wet hair.  
"Open the door." Hebe regained some control and her anger was a finely tuned blade. After a moments silence Torah realised it would probably be better to appease the other snowleopard rather than further frustrate her.  
"Look, she started it."  
"That's not what I heard."  
"What did she say?" Torah stepped out in nothing but a towel.  
"That you threatened her"  
"And her stuck up friends."  
"It's not something to be proud of!"  
"Did she explain why I said what I said? Or do you think I just randomly walk up to people and talk smack to them?"  
"Wouldn't put it past you."  
"Oh shut up." She hissed.  
"Well?" Hebe placed her hands on her hips.  
"They were laughing at Wyatt." Torah said solemnly.  
"Weird Wyatt?" Hebe couldn't help but look confused, which seemed to aggravate Torah.  
"Don't call him that!" Torah looked disgusted "He has Asperger's for crying out loud!" Hebe's eyes widened and she raised her hands in defence.  
"Hey sorry, Christ" Torah seemed to relax.  
"He's actually really sweet if anyone would give him a chance." Wyatt was 14 and had Asperger's as a result even in the pack environment struggled to make friends and was often a source of entertainment for some of the juves. "The adults do fuck all about the way he's treated."  
"That's not true." Hebe defended them, there was only so much they could do, what happened behind closed doors happened. She sighed and realised perhaps Torah hadn't been in the wrong but she could have none the less handled the situation with more finesse, Torah begged to differ. "You always took in the strays."  
"what do you mean?"  
"You've always been nice to people who needed help or were outsiders, an absolute bitch to everyone else"  
"Not everyone." Torah defended herself, she liked to think she was merely a good judge of character.  
"We work so well because I'm secretly a bitch and you are secretly a nice person." Hebe smiled. "Either way, lay low for a bit, Cary isn't happy and to be frank I'm tired of defending you to them."  
"Then don't defend me to them, I don't care!" Torah was beginning to see red as she turned to face the Caramel haired girl holding her gaze.  
"Don't put me in a position where I need to choose" Hebe had a spine of steel and gritted her teeth at Torah who was blatantly trying to intimidate her.  
"The fact you would clearly have trouble choosing…" Torah struggled to finish the sentence ending it in a snarl.  
"This is a new life, Torah one I don't want to miss out on or pass me by, there are good people here, people who are welcoming us and making a home for us if you would just pull your head out of your ass maybe you'd realise that. Stop comparing it to IceChaser because it's not but it's better than going rogue, is that what you want?"  
"Of course I don't want to go rogue, I'm friends with who I want to be unlike you I don't feel the need to lick everyone's ass."  
"By licking everyone's ass do you mean be mildly pleasant and courteous?" Hebe felt her cheeks warm with not embarrassment but with anger, snarling back at Torah she stared her down-unblinking. Hebe's dominance was no match for Torah's however, and she was forced to look away.  
"That's what I thought." Torah muttered turning away "Go hang out with Cary; I'm sick of having to explain myself to you." Dominance had never been a factor in their relationship, Torah never used it in arguments or in daily life until now, her last thing to fall back on, and it showed how bad things had become. Admitting the current situation wasn't going to be remedied any time soon Hebe bowed her head not in defeat or submission but in upset that their friendship had come to this, displays of dominance.  
"I really hope you find someone soon, Torah." The comment was heartfelt, Torah was breaking and needed a kind of support Hebe couldn't provide and until she found it their relationship wouldn't work.

_Hey yay for character development chapter…stuff's actually going to happen in the next one (GOT A FEW BIG SURPRISE S IN STORE :D If you guys want the story faster paced let me know, I have a habit of writing as if it were a novel :P_

T x


	13. Chocolate and Chilli

"Torah, you're late." Vaughn scolded her as she ran into the training room "It's not like you." He softened his tone as she looked genuinely sorry.  
"I know, I over slept I didn't hear my alarm" She raised up her phone, panting whilst wiping her hair out of her eyes with her free hand "I haven't been sleeping well." She was beginning to ramble.  
"It's fine." Vaughn said slowly, he'd never seen Torah this frazzled and he wasn't entirely sure how to handle the situation.  
"Yeah sorry, I'm fine."  
"Good." Torah noticed Vaughn was empty handed and not in fact dressed for training, noticing her bemusement Vaughn explained "I'm afraid I won't be able to train with you today, I have some sentinel duties to attend to concerning SnowDancer-"  
"What? But I only get private tuition once a week with you!" Torah was more upset than she probably should have been.  
"I know, I promise to make up for it, is there anyone you could train with for the time being?" Torah thought for a second.  
"No, Kit's away today."  
"There must be someone else? Hebe?"  
"No we're…not talking." She admitted to her trainer.  
"Oh?" He seemed genuinely surprised. "Well, what about Kaleb?" The young Snow Leopard gave the Jaguar a stern look reminding him that Kaleb and she had never been on particularly friendly terms. "Any of the other juves?" Torah just smiled weakly for in fact there were no other people she could train with at that point in time and she would never admit how much it hurt. Vaughn gave a concerned but understanding look and advised she go on a run instead and perhaps do one of the courses in the forest on her own.  
"Okay."  
"Torah, if you're having problems tell somebody about it, it doesn't have to be Me."  
"Yeah." With a meek look Torah left the practice room in an even worse mood, something she hadn't thought were possible.

After going back to her room and change into clothes she wouldn't mind losing to woods she stepped out into the white zone. She smelt the air, catching the scent of everyone who had passed there that morning. The air was thicker here than it had been in Canada, being isolated the air was crisper, clearer, untainted; here it was slightly humid and woody. Pulling herself back to the here and now Torah ran to the heavier wooded area before she decided to shift.

The human side of Kaleb was no longer present, running full throttle through the trees the leopard had taken over. His nerves running thin it was the least he could do to please that part of him, the part that seemed to be slowly going mad and reeling inside of him. It felt freeing to have released his cat and to indulge in the sensory pleasure of the forest in feline form. He snarled causing smaller creatures to run and hide in fear of the predator running through their homes and nesting places. He was nearing the border into outer SnowDancer territory, wolf scents strengthening the closer he ventured. He'd been running for hours, most of the day he planned to keep going until he collapsed something was drawing him, the leopard was drawing him towards something, somewhere and he had very little control anymore. It was a few minutes later an unexpected but familiar scent crossed his path; he came to a sudden halt and without any conscious effort turned to follow the smell of chilli and chocolate. He followed the trail for 10 minutes it was getting stronger wrapping him up in its warmth, taunting him. The scent's owner was moving fast but he was faster and he would catch up to them soon, his leopard excited by the thought he put on another burst of speed he didn't think he had in him.

Torah was beginning to tire from the run when a tail-wind carried the scent of Lime and slightly melted ice, intrigued she slowed. The scent was growing in strength meaning the bearer was approaching. She halted her run and stayed put her head cocked to the side. That was until the male leopard came into view; strong and lethal. She turned to run, not in fear but in play, a primal part of her had taken over she didn't fully understand her actions but she knew she wasn't in danger, she was testing her pursuer. However, she was tired and he seemed to be incredibly determined. Torah had lost her sense of direction during the heat of the pursuit but became more orientated when unfamiliar canine scents filled her nose, they were in wolf territory. She felt hot breath on the tip of her tail and then moments later the male leopard had leapt and crashed his body on top of hers as if she were prey. Torah struggled beneath him no longer sure if she was playing or fleeing but he weighed far more than her.

Kaleb recognised the pale green yes beneath him, the human part of himself was a dull resonance in the back of his mind, his leopard was still in charge. She continued to fruitlessly struggle, in order to stop her he held her neck down with his jaws, his sharp teeth brushing her neck through her thick fur. Unexpectedly she began to shift he moved to not interfere with the transition.

Naked and human Torah stared at Kaleb's leopard; in animal form he couldn't use dashing good looks and charm to hide his lethality. Rubbing her neck she stepped back and found herself against a large tree.  
"What is it, Kaleb?" Her voice was smooth not giving away her uncertainty but she knew her scent was giving away nervousness and a hint of fear. A moment's later and to her relief Kaleb exploded into a thousand colours until he stood in front of her as a human but with the leopard in his eyes. She hated to admit that her scent was now giving off a very different scent, one of arousal. She gritted her teeth and cursed herself for it; Kaleb didn't need another girl to stroke his ego.

Kaleb's eyes brushed her taut breasts partially covered by her hair, her arousal pleased his leopard. His eyes met hers. Walking towards her he placed a hand on her neck where his teeth had been only moments ago, leaning in he smelt her, wanting to roll around in the velvety chocolate and kick of spice. She jerked back but he didn't let go and yanked her towards him.  
"Let go of me." The sentence was more of a snarl her cat thick in her voice as she pushed him away and turned away, his leopard wasn't prepared to let her get away, however. Pushing her hard into the tree he pressed himself against her, the tip of his erection against her lower back. Lowering his head to the curve of her neck, his left hand curving around her breast, she shuddered not in pleasure but fear.

Torah was terrified, she wasn't prepared for any of this; as far as she was aware Kaleb and her were enemies and hated each other, but then out of the blue he'd pursued her and now seemed intent on taking her, something she at this moment wasn't prepared to give anyone, let alone him. She was too scared to move his dominance and want were tangible. With the leopard this prevalent she would be no match for him and would it probably just make him more aggressive.  
"Kaleb." She whispered "Kaleb come back." Kaleb was a jerk but he wasn't a rapist. Her soft words sparked the human side of him and it began to gain more control, leopard and man were truly at war. His human side couldn't deny the attraction but recognised her unwillingness and begged his cat to let her go; he'd never lost so much control. Torah felt him go very still, and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the human side of him was at the very least present. The scent of her fear was overwhelming and had washed away any remnants of her arousal. His hand squeezed her breast, his leopard was clearly winning. Squeezing her eyes shut tears pricked in their corners. She'd never imagined she could be this helpless. His free hand snaked across her lower stomach and rested on her opposite hip. She felt him breath in deep his arousal growing ever stronger, vibrations ran down her back, the bastard was purring.

"Kaleb, step away." Torah recognised the sound of her Alpha's voice, Lucas was here. Kaleb didn't move and only growled in response. Lucas didn't move however the wold who flanked his right moved so it was in Torah's eye line as a sign and silent promise that they would let nothing happen to her.  
"Torah, has he hurt you?" Lucas remained calm but sounded concerned, before she could answer Kaleb bit down on her neck hard enough to cause her to cry out.  
"Kaleb, step back." Every ounce of dominance Lucas had in him poured over the statement, he couldn't do anything but obey, releasing her he stepped back and turned to face his alpha resentment in his bright eyes. Torah could do little but fall to the ground, the wolf that she now recognised as the SnowDancer Alpha came to her side to make sure she wasn't in shock. She breathed heavily trying to ward off an incoming panic attack. Focusing she noticed the Jaguar by Lucas's side however; they were both intent on the boy in front of them. "Get some control!" Lucas was angry and much unlike himself he struggled to hide it. It took several moments but Kaleb's eyes became human. Vaughn shifted and helped Torah off the ground whilst Kaleb slumped to his knees before his Alpha.  
"Take her back to the den." Lucas didn't look at Vaughn, his eyes fixated on Kaleb who bowed his head refusing to look at the girl he'd assaulted.


	14. Mixed Emotions

Vaughn walked with Torah for a few minutes after she'd fought him to stop carrying her.  
"Are you okay?" It was the first time Vaughn had said anything apart from swearing when she clawed at his back in an attempt to get him to drop her. She didn't say anything but gave him a look that would cause a submissive leopard to run a mile. "That probably wasn't a good question." He admitted nodding his head. "It's going to be taken seriously; we'll take you to Tamsyn's to check you're all okay and then hopefully when you feel comfortable tell one of them what happened."  
Torah seemed completely disinterested in what Vaughn had to say, crossing her arms against her chest she was beginning to feel slightly conscious about being totally nude.  
"We'll look for some clothes when we're back in DarkRiver territory" Vaughn noticed she was uncomfortable.  
"Thanks." Vaughn wasn't sure whether to ask Torah about the incident, to make casual conversation or just walk in silence.  
"Can't everyone forget it ever happened?" Torah stared at the ground in front of her.  
"I don't think that's likely, or a decision you can make."  
"It should be, I don't want to have to think about it, go through it again!" She gripped her arms leaving white marks.  
"We've had the occasional sexual harassment incident within DarkRiver and usually it was just a male being an idiot, Torah, if we had not been there he would have raped you."  
"Oh thanks I didn't realise!" She shouted at him her cheeks reddening humiliated "I should have been able to handle it, I should _never have put myself in that position!_ "  
"You did not put yourself in any position, you cannot blame yourself for this."  
"I'm not blaming myself for what he did I'm upset-" She sighed "I'm upset I couldn't defend myself, I've fought against far more dangerous and stronger enemies, but I froze, I couldn't think, every move I made was sloppy and panicked I fought like a novice!" Vaughn looked at her, he'd forgotten that in IceChaser she hadn't been a novice but a fully-fledged soldier, she was strong she'd given him some bruises, she wasn't a little girl, a woman who felt she'd let herself down and was ashamed. "I'm a soldier, this shouldn't happen to me, it should happen to a submissive who can't defend themselves."  
"Torah, it should not happen to anybody!" Vaughn corrected her, she bowed her head, he was right it should happen to no one regardless of who they were. "He has alpha in him; his mental state clearly made him stronger, more predatory."  
"Please don't make excuses for me." They continued walking. All of a sudden Torah got an influx of messages through the web. Sascha's was first checking she was okay and then Hebe's. Hebe didn't send words but she could sense waves of comfort, worry and love. "They know."  
"Lucas would have told Sascha, your fear ran through the web it's how we found you actually, Sascha sent Lucas a worried message and then we smelt you."  
"Sheer luck." It made her sick to her stomach that had she not run into wolf territory she wouldn't be safe with Vaughn right now, if she wasn't connected to the net. It's difficult not to believe in fate she supposed…but why would fate want her to have undergone that? "What's going to happen to Kaleb?" She didn't hate him, she thought she should but she didn't.  
"Well it depends on your account; he'll be formally punished-hard labour, solitary etc and probably be shunned by the pack for a good few years." Torah felt sick to her stomach.  
"That'll kill him." Kaleb was an incredibly social member of the pack, he loved his friends, he loved girls and she'd even seen him volunteer at the nursery. Vaughn looked shocked.  
"Torah…"  
"I know, I know." She raised one of her hands to stop him from saying whatever he was going to say "I just don't want that to happen to him."  
"He's been stellar before this incident, never got in trouble always helped out, that side of him won't be forgotten."  
"Good." She didn't understand how she felt, she'd never known where to place Kaleb to say she'd always hated him was a lie, she gritted her teeth at the realisation that hate may have been the exact opposite of what she felt for him even after what had happened. She rubbed her neck where he'd bitten her, a clear mark had been left, and she closed her hand over it. In a deep corner of her mind she thought it felt right his mark on her, for the most part she ignored it but in no corner did she resent it like she should have.

Tamsyn ran to the girl the moment she scented her.  
"I'm fine, I really don't need to be here." Torah brushed off her prying hands, but Tamsyn dragged her into the house and gasped when she saw her neck. "It's not bad, really."  
"It's bruising, he pierced the skin" she wiped off some dried blood no one had previously noticed. Sascha walked into the kitchen holding cups of tea and placed them on the table.  
"I should have got to you sooner, Torah I felt your fear in the net but I was so busy with Roman and I…"  
"No it happened so suddenly you wouldn't have felt it…I'm fine though."  
"You could have called for help but I have you mentally contained, I feel so guilty."  
"Sascha you couldn't have known, please calm down." Torah hated seeing Sascha distressed, she didn't let many people in but those she did she gave them all of her and Sascha had become one of those people.  
"You can stay here tonight."  
"No really, I'm fine."  
"I phrased it as an offer, it's a command." Tamsyn went to the counter and grabbed some freshly baked cookies "Here, eat."  
"I'm not really in the mood, thanks though." Tamsyn looked at her sternly and Torah realised this was also an order and not an offer, she took one and reluctantly bit into it.  
"Lucas called Sascha not too long ago about the incident so I haven't had time to get rid of Jules and Roman I hope that's okay."  
"Oh don't be silly, they're adorable."  
"Not when you're praying for peace and quiet." Tamsyn laughed her boys were evidently her pride and joy.  
"I'm going to go back to the den." Vaughn grabbed two of the cookies "Torah, is there anyone you'd like me to contact?" Torah questioned telling Hebe but she'd sent worried messages and even though they had fought Torah knew deep down she came first to Hebe  
"Hebe, she'll want to know what happened."  
"Of course, if you ladies need anything let me or Faith know."  
"Actually" Torah perked up "I wouldn't mind talking to Faith." To her surprise no one questioned the request.  
"I'll go get her." Vaughn smiled.  
"Tamsyn, could you give Torah and me a moment?" Sascha sat beside the healer.  
"Certainly, I'll check on the boys." She took the cookies with her. Once she left the room Sascha moved to the chair closest to the changeling.  
"Torah, please tell me how you feel, I trust you can be honest with me, it's important."  
"I don't know, just do your thing I'm too tired to explain."  
"I have, I can't make full sense of them." Torah raised her eyebrows it was unlike Sascha to intentionally pry.  
"You think I can? I'm not angry or scared anymore, I just feel a little bit blank… empty."  
"Sad?"  
"Yeah, sad. Weird huh?"  
"You're probably in shock, I read somewhere that after a trauma it's not uncommon for there to be no immediate emotions ,they kick in once your brain has had time to process the event fully."  
"Maybe." Torah looked at the floor; she didn't think that was the case. "How angry is Lucas at Kaleb?" She'd asked the question so quietly Sascha wasn't sure she'd heard right.  
"Very, Lucas has never had to deal with a situation like this before as far as I know. In a pack environment this breach of trust is unforgivable, so don't worry Kaleb will be made an example of."  
"Sascha," Torah swallowed hard looking down at her lap where she played with her fingers "I don't want" She sighed raised her head and shut her eyes not sure of anything anymore "I don't _want_ Kaleb to be punished." Sascha sat back into her chair as she tried to process what Torah was saying.  
"Was the situation not what it seemed?"  
"No it was, I didn't lie." Torah was horrified at the thought.  
"Then I don't understand-"  
"It would destroy him, he works so hard and he's so loved I couldn't bear to take that away from him."  
"Torah, he tried to rape you."  
"I know, Jesus, don't say that." The thought made her shudder.  
"I apologise that was insensitive."  
"I don't want to see him suffer, don't ask me why but to be honest that'll make me feel a whole lot worse than I currently do."  
"I don't really think it's up to you."  
"Vaughn said as much." Torah sighed "What if I said it was my fault, you know like that I lead him on."  
"Torah its 2080 men have come to terms with the fact they have a degree of self-control, long gone are the days where women's underwear are shown in court as defence for a rapist." Sascha took one of Torah's hands. "He's going to have to suffer the consequences it's better for everyone."  
"How? This doesn't involve anyone else!" She pulled away her hand and stood up pacing the room.  
"It does, strict rules are in place to keep order in the pack. It's not just about you and him." Torah leant over the counter staring out the window and raising a shaking hand to her mouth she began to cry. The Empath walked over to the crying girl and took her in her arms, using her gift she sought to comfort her.  
"He didn't mean it, I know he didn't."  
"What do you mean?"  
"He wasn't in control I could tell he was fighting himself, his leopard took over."  
"That doesn't make a difference; his leopard must be punished too." Torah knew what that meant no physical contact not even the most basic of kinds, the thought caused another wave of sobs.  
"Torah, I hate to ask this question and please don't answer it if you don't want to."  
"What is it?"  
"Why didn't you? I mean I don't know how the events panned out but let's say he made a move and your rejected him, why? I'm not saying you shouldn't have I'm trying to understand your relationship with him. He's attractive, charismatic all the girls love him."  
"Because, it wasn't him and he's never bothered to work any of his charm on me anyway, we've always had a volatile relationship. I pulled his arm out of its socket remember?" Sascha laughed at the memory.  
"You've never hated him?"  
"No, not really." Torah smiled to herself not able to believe what she was about to say, Sascha could get you to tell her anything "I actually wanted to like him; I tried to get him to let me like him he has walls higher than mine." Sascha blew out some air sounding amazed  
"Those are some pretty high walls." She joked and squeezed the changeling tighter. "What made him come after you?"  
"I don't know."


End file.
